The Federal Court will hear Rosmah Mansor’s final bid to review a judge’s recusal on July 29, a last-ditch effort linked to her RM1.25 billion solar graft conviction.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has fixed July 29 to hear Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s application for a review of its earlier decision, which rejected her bid to recuse the judge who convicted her in a massive solar hybrid corruption case.
Her lawyer, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, confirmed the hearing date was set during a case management session conducted via Zoom before Federal Court deputy registrar Rohaiza Hamzah.
The court directed Rosmah’s defence team to file its affidavit-in-reply by May 5, with written submissions due by July 14.
Rosmah’s other lawyers, Datuk Jagjit Singh, Meor Hafiz Salehan, and Harel Nieryan, were also present, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz represented the prosecution.
A three-judge Federal Court panel dismissed Rosmah’s appeal on March 3, ruling that Judge Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan did not breach the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009.
The appeal centred on allegations that a leaked draft judgment had been prepared by the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s research unit before Mohamed Zaini delivered his decision on September 1, 2022.
Rosmah’s initial application for Mohamed Zaini to recuse himself was dismissed by the High Court on September 1, 2022, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal on September 17 last year.
The 74-year-old filed the recusal application at the eleventh hour, just before Mohamed Zaini was set to deliver his verdict, citing the alleged leak of a draft judgment.
On that same day, Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was convicted of corruption related to a RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970 million, with an additional 30-year jail term imposed if she fails to pay the fine.
The High Court subsequently granted a stay of execution on both the jail sentence and the fine, pending the outcome of her appeal.
Rosmah faced charges of soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin.
