KUALA Lumpur High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan will hear Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s 11th-hour bid to recuse himself from hearing her RM1.25 bil corruption case.
This over a purported leaked judgement by Malaysia Today ahead of today’s verdict.
Zaini also rejected the defence’s motion to postpone today’s hearing so that it can prepare for its application, saying it should have been ready to argue its case if it had already filed a motion, which it did on Tuesday (Aug 30).
According to media reports and journalists on the ground, lead defence counsel Datuk Jagjit Singh had earlier asked for today’s verdict to be postponed so the recusal bid can be heard, adding that the defence needs more time to prepare themselves.
To this, Zaini said that the case would be academic if the recusal bid application was heard another day since the verdict was scheduled to be delivered today.
Senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, meanwhile, disagreed with the postponement, saying the prosecution is ready to argue against the recusal bid.
“Even without this affidavit, I will be able to argue in court. So, they cannot say, ‘come to court, file an application and give us time to marshall’,” BFM News reported him as saying. “You have to be ready for everything before you come to court.”
“‘Leaked judgement’ was a research paper”
He added that the reported leaked verdict was “not even the judgement” but a paper prepared by a researcher.
According to Malaysiakini, Zaini inclined he would not adjourn today’s verdict; he said he had spent most of his time yesterday (Aug 31) – a public holiday (Merdeka Day) – going over the recusal application bid.
He also denied Jagjit’s request for 48 hours to make a written submission in response to the prosecution’s affidavit-in-reply.
“You should be prepared, Datuk Jagjit. You come from an era where written submissions are known. I have confidence you are able to argue this application, Datuk,” BFM News quoted the judge as saying.
He, however, gave the defence half an hour to prepare themselves to argue the recusal bid in court.
In November 2018, Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged with one count of soliciting RM187.5 mil and two counts of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 mil from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin.
The bribes were allegedly received through her former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings to secure the Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar System Integrated project as well as the maintenance and operation of diesel generator sets for 369 Sarawak rural schools worth RM1.25 bil from the Education Ministry through direct negotiation.
On Feb 18, 2021, Rosmah was ordered to enter her defence on the three charges after the prosecution succeeded in proving a prima facie case against her. – Sept 1, 2022
Main photo credit: Bernama
