KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here has dismissed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s last-minute application to recuse judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan from presiding over her corruption trial in relation to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project in Sarawak.
In his judgement, Zaini said the documents that form the application are based on opinions written by the Research Unit of the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
“The draft judgments were not prepared by me, nor were they prepared based on my instructions but they remain just that, opinions.
“They are not my grounds, nor did I rely or use them as a working draft for my judgement.
“I hope the research division will forgive me for saying this but I did not read the opinions. I’ve done my own research and was assisted by counsel in this case, by their well-written submissions.”
He added that, “I’ve always done my work as laborious as they are and I’ve written more than 200 judgments to date”.
“Now, anyone can form their own opinions but at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is my own.
“That will form the basis for my decision.”
Earlier, one of Rosmah’s lawyers Datuk Jagjit Singh said the defence needed more time to marshal a response to the prosecution’s counter-affidavit on Rosmah’s recusal bid.
This also earned a reprimand from Zaini, who told Jagjit that he was ready to hear the merits of the application as the defence filed a certificate of emergency on August 30 as a means to expedite the hearing on the matter.
Zaini told Jagjit he was ready to set aside the prosecution’s affidavit – filed this morning by deputy public prosecutor Poh Yin Tinn – so as not to handicap the defence.
Senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram then said Rosmah’s application did not have credible evidence to support her justification to recuse the judge.
However, the court stood down for about 30 minutes after Zaini granted Jagjit some time to prepare his thoughts to argue Rosmah’s application.
In the application filed on Tuesday night, Rosmah cited loss of confidence following the leak of an alleged draft judgement – published on the Malaysia Today website – that she claimed was not drawn up by Zaini himself.
She filed the notice of motion through Messrs Akberdin & Co, naming the public prosecutor as respondent.
She is also seeking an order that with the recusal of the judge, the case should be heard, retried or decided by another high court judge.
Rosmah, 70, is charged with one count of 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 Samsudin through her former special officer Datuk Rizal Mansor.
The kickbacks were allegedly an inducement to help the company Jepak Holdings secure the hybrid photovoltaic solar system integrated project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, worth RM1.25 billion. – The Vibes, September 1, 2022
