[UPDATED] Rosmah arrives at Palace of Justice, appeal to recuse Sri Ram expected

PUTRAJAYA – Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor arrived at the Palace of Justice here before 9am after the brouhaha of her missing her Court of Appeal proceedings last Thursday.

She was seen dressed in a cream and pink baju kurung, flanked by her defence team.

Senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram last week pushed for an arrest warrant following Rosmah’s absence from court.

The three-member bench, however, denied Sri Ram’s application to court to issue Rosmah an arrest warrant and revoke her bail after failing to follow a high court order issued on October 15.

It was reported that the court withheld the arrest warrant as Rosmah had not skipped her high court proceedings.

However, Sri Ram told the court an arrest warrant should be issued and bail revoked as Rosmah disobeyed the court order.

He was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times that Rosmah should not be given special treatment over other accused individuals as this could lead to the loss of public confidence in the judicial system.

We are not talking about children; we are talking about adults who know what their responsibilities and liabilities are.

“My only point is the order was not obeyed. If this had been a case with a normal citizen, an Ahmad bin Abdul, Muniandy or Ah Chong, it would have been different. I don’t know why it should be different with Rosmah binti Mansor.

“We have to be guided by the court order. If people are going to ignore this, then what is the point of making these orders? The natural order is that a warrant of arrest must be issued and bail must be cancelled,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier, Rosmah’s passport was returned to her, allowing her to visit her heavily pregnant daughter Nooryana Najwa in Singapore.

Rosmah, who is the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in her application said Nooryana had a history of complications during delivery, and that she wanted to be there to provide assistance and emotional support.

High court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had ordered Rosmah to return her passport on December 6 and return to Malaysia on or before November 21.

However, Rosmah was still in Singapore last Thursday as her lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh confirmed to the court, saying her travel plans changed after taking into consideration the quarantine duration imposed by the two countries.

Jagjit added that he takes full responsibility for Rosmah’s absence, before he sought an adjournment.

Rosmah sought the stay order pending disposal of her appeal against a high court decision on September 24 this year, which dismissed her application to nullify her corruption trial and to remove Sri Ram as lead prosecutor.

She also filed the two applications at the high court on May 6 this year, seeking to nullify her entire trial, in a bid to be acquitted of all three charges and to remove Sri Ram as lead prosecutor.

The court then stood down for an hour to deliberate. A decision is expected on the appeal to recuse Sri Ram.

She is charged with soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving bribes of RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd’s former managing director, Saidi Abang Samsuddin, through her former special officer, Datuk Rizal Mansor.

For the second charge, Rosmah is alleged to have dishonestly received for herself RM1.5 million from Saidi for the same purpose at her residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta, on September 7, 2017.

Rosmah is also facing a third charge of accepting gratification of RM5 million from Saidi through Rizal for helping Jepak Holdings secure the same project on December 20, 2016, at the Seri Perdana residence in Putrajaya between January 2016 and September 2017. – The Vibes, December 6, 2021