Kuala lumpur: The High Court today set September 17 to hear additional evidence from star prosecution witness Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah in Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's solar hybrid project graft trial. Judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin scheduled the date following counsel Datuk Jagjit Singh's announcement that the Court of Appeal permitted Rosmah to present new evidence in her appeal, directing the High Court to record it.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Court of Appeal allowed Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to introduce additional evidence in her appeal against her conviction and sentence in the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project case. The panel mandated that further testimony be gathered from Rayyan Radzwill, the 16th prosecution witness, through additional cross-examination and re-examination.
Counsel Jagjit Singh noted that the Court of Appeal issued a specific order for case management and required the High Court to record the new evidence within two weeks. He highlighted the tight timeline, as the criminal appeals are scheduled for continuation in October. Although the prosecution filed a stay application, no date has been set, prompting the court to fix the hearing dates.
Deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair informed the court that the prosecution filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Court on September 4 and submitted an application to stay the Court of Appeal's decision on September 8. She assured that a hearing would likely occur next week, advocating for an adjournment pending the stay application's outcome.
Rosmah's other counsel, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, opposed the adjournment, citing the Court of Appeal's order to resolve the matter within two weeks. Akberdin emphasized the need for only one day, as he managed the cross-examination at the High Court.
The additional evidence Rosmah seeks to present includes a police report and a statutory declaration by Rayyan, alleging prosecution pressure during the trial. Rosmah, 74, was convicted on September 1, 2022, on three corruption charges under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009. She was found guilty of soliciting RM187.5 million and accepting RM6.5 million in bribes from Saidi Abang Samsudin, Jepak Holdings' former managing director, through her former aide, Datuk Rizal Mansor.
The bribes were intended to help Jepak Holdings secure the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. Rosmah received a 10-year imprisonment sentence for each charge, to run concurrently, alongside a RM970 million fine. A stay of execution was granted pending her appeal's resolution.