Prosecution seeks stay of ruling over fresh evidence in Rosmah’s case

The prosecution has requested a temporary halt to a Court of Appeal decision allowing Rosmah Mansor to present fresh evidence in her appeal against her conviction in the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project corruption case. The request, submitted at the Court of Appeal on September 2, aims to suspend the collection of the additional evidence until the prosecution appeals to the Federal Court.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Asnawi Abu Hanipah filed the application, supported by an affidavit. On September 1, a three-judge bench, including Justices Azhahari Kamal Ramli, Choo Kah Sing, and K Muniandy, granted Rosmah's request to introduce new evidence, provided she met the required legal criteria. The court subsequently ordered the new evidence to be presented before a new High Court judge within two weeks, set for September 10.

On September 5, the prosecution filed an appeal to the Federal Court, challenging the Court of Appeal ruling. During the proceedings, Judge Choo emphasized that the evidence from the 16th prosecution witness, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, would undergo further cross-examination and re-examination. Rosmah, the ex-wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, had requested permission to rely on a police report, a sworn statement from Rayyan, and supporting documents, arguing that they demonstrated Rayyan's experience with prosecutorial misconduct during the trial, potentially contaminating his testimony against her.

The High Court judge, Zaini Mazlan, convicted Rosmah of soliciting RM187.5 million from Saidi Abang Samsudin for the solar hybrid project in exchange for Rizal's assistance, as well as receiving RM5 million and RM1.5 million from Saidi through Rizal in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Zaini sentenced Rosmah to 10 years imprisonment for each charge, to run concurrently, and imposed a RM970 million fine, with an additional 10 years if she failed to pay the fine.