Kuala Lumpur — Both former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were scheduled to appear before the High Court Monday (Feb 3) although in separate trials.
But Madam Rosmah was a no-show, communicating instead through her lawyer that she had fallen ill. Datuk Jagjit Singh, her counsel, told the high court that she was not well enough to appear in court and that she had been granted medical leave until next week because of a serious medical condition.
But Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, the High Court Judge, declared an adjournment only for one day. He also had Tuesday (Feb 4) vacated. The judge scheduled the trial to begin on Wednesday (Feb 5).
Rosmah’s lawyer said that she suffered from severe recurrent neck pain, and that she was also dizzy and had osteoarthritis in the knees.
According to Mr Jagjit, she was suffering from a condition that was life-threatening, based on what he had searched on Google.
The court broke into laughter upon hearing this.
He answered, “I got it from Google search” upon being asked by the judge where it says that Rosmah’s condition is life-threatening.
An objection to the sick leave was raised by Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, the lead prosecutor for the government. He said the prosecution had not been told of this.
According to Malay Mail online he said, “The only problem I think is that she suffers from overdose of publicity and wealth.”
“We regard this as a last-minute attempt to avoid attending court,” he added.
The lawyer said that he himself suffered from the same condition as Rosmah, “She was known to have cervical spondylosis and osteoarthritis of the knees for the past few years. I have both of those things.”
But according to Mr Jagjit, he was only told of the state of Rosmah last night. He told the prosecutor, “Nobody likes to fall sick, nobody can give notice ‘I’ll fall sick next week’.”
Bernama reported that Monday was to have marked the first day of Rosmah’s corruption trial in relation to the installation and supply of solar energy in over 350 rural schools in Sarawak. She was supposed to have appeared before the judge at 2pm. Rosmah has been charged with three counts of corruption involving hundreds of millions of ringgit.
Meanwhile, starting from 9am, the former Prime Minister continued his defence in front of Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali. Najib has been accused of the misappropriation of RM42 million (nearly S$14 million) in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
In Rosmah’s trial, the prosecution is expected to call around 25 witnesses. On Monday, after the opening statement was supposed to have been given by the prosecution, two of those witnesses were expected to give their testimony.
Rosmah had originally been charged with Rizal Mansor, who had served as her special officer at the time of the alleged corruption. Rizal, who faced four counts of soliciting and receiving bribes on behalf of Rosmah in relation to the solar energy initiative, was supposed to have been tried with her.
He was, however, acquitted of all charges last month when they were withdrawn by the prosecution.
This is not the first time Rosmah is facing charges. She pleaded not guilty in November 2018 to two counts of having solicited and received millions of ringgit for the provision of solar energy to Sarawak’s rural schools.
She also faces 12 additional charges of money laundering, and five counts of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
Rosmah faces 20 charges in total. -/TISG