High Court allows Rosmah’s bid for temporary release of passport to accompany pregnant daughter in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15): The High Court here on Friday allowed an application by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for the temporary release of her passport to enable her to go to Singapore to accompany her daughter who is expected to give birth to her second child soon.

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan allowed the application and issued a court order that Rosmah’s passport would be returned to her on Friday, and must be returned by Dec 6.

The High Court judge added that Rosmah would only be allowed to leave the country to Singapore from Oct 22 after she finished giving her testimony in her solar hybrid graft case the day earlier (Oct 21) and must return to Malaysia on or before Nov 21.

This is to accommodate that she has to be quarantined for 14 days after returning from the island republic.

Earlier, Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh, along with her counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, had asked for his client to be allowed to return by or before Nov 24.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mustaffa P Kunyalam, who led the prosecution, said the prosecution had no qualms, provided it does not clash with future hearings.

However, Justice Mohamed Zaini said Rosmah should return on Nov 21, three days earlier, to complete her 14-day quarantine before the trial’s next hearing, which is slated to be held on Dec 8.

“On the 14th day, you need to go back and get yourself tested again, and only then will your pink tag be removed. That’s my understanding of the procedure.

“If you return to Malaysia on Nov 24, it would mean that you would be released from quarantine on Dec 8, which is the day that we are scheduled for trial.

“I would think of Nov 21, that gives you a buffer period of three days before the trial starts,” he reasoned.

On Tuesday, Rosmah, who is facing three graft charges in relation to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project, had applied for her passport to be returned temporarily on the grounds that she needs to be with her daughter Nooryana Najwa, who is expected to give birth to her second child soon in a private hospital in Singapore.

In the application, Rosmah said Nooryana has a “history of high-risk complications during delivery”, and stressed that she needed to be beside her daughter to provide mental and emotional support before, during and after the delivery.

The wife of Datuk Seri Najib Razak had in the application stated that she is expected to be out of the country from the end of October till early December, and is seeking the cooperation of the police and Immigration Department.

Previously, the former premier’s wife had her passport impounded by the court in 2019 after she was charged with corruption involving a government project. 

The solar hybrid project was for an integrated hybrid power generation system involving solar panels, as well as the maintenance and operation of diesel generators for the supply of electricity to 369 schools in rural Sarawak.

Rosmah had allegedly solicited RM187.5 million and received a RM6.5 million bribe from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd’s Saidi Abang Samsudin, in exchange for securing the RM1.25 billion project for the company.

Besides this, she is also facing charges in relation to money laundering of RM7.09 million.

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