Prosecution Seeks Stay of Ruling Allowing Rosmah Mansor Additional Evidence in Solar Project Case

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 9 – The prosecution has filed an application to stay a Court of Appeal ruling that granted Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor leave to adduce additional evidence in her ongoing appeal against her conviction in the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project corruption case. Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah confirmed that the stay application was submitted to the Court of Appeal on Monday, seeking to temporarily suspend the collection of additional evidence pending the final outcome of the prosecution’s appeal before the Federal Court.

Mohd Asnawi also confirmed that the prosecution had filed its notice of appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision on Sept 4. The procedural move follows an Aug 1 ruling by a three-member appellate bench comprising Justices Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, Datuk Dr Choo Kah Sing, and K. Muniandy, which allowed Rosmah’s application to introduce new evidence into the record.

The appellate court had directed that the additional evidence be taken before a new High Court judge within two weeks of a case management session scheduled for Thursday. Under the directive, the evidence is to be gathered from prosecution witness Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah through further cross-examination and re-examination, with any subsequent evidence from either party strictly confined to matters arising from Rayyan’s new testimony. Rosmah, the wife of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, sought to introduce a police report and a statutory declaration affirmed by Rayyan, in which he allegedly claimed that he had been subjected to pressure from the prosecution during the original trial.

The legal proceedings stem from Rosmah’s conviction by the High Court on Sept 1, 2022, on three corruption charges under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009. The High Court found her guilty of soliciting RM187.5 million and accepting RM6.5 million in bribes from Saidi Abang Samsudin, the former managing director of Jepak Holdings, through her former aide, Datuk Rizal Mansor, to help secure the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on each charge, to run concurrently, alongside a RM970 million fine, and was granted a stay of execution pending the disposal of her appeal.

–NMT