Denied once again: Rosmah leaving the court following the dismissal of her application. — Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to recuse a then-High Court judge who had sentenced her to jail in her RM1.25bil corruption trial over a solar hybrid project in Sarawak.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, unanimously rejected Rosmah’s application, ruling that it lacked merit.
Justice Ahmad Zaidi said the crux of Rosmah’s application to recuse Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan was a draft judgment that was allegedly prepared by a third party. The judgment was leaked to the public before its official delivery.
Justice Ahmad Zaidi said the court had considered both the draft judgment and the full 116-page grounds of judgment by Justice Mohamed Zaini, who now sits in the Court of Appeal.
“After going through both documents, it was clear to us that there are stark differences between them.
“This shows that the trial judge prepared his own judgment without using the third party’s draft, consistent with what he (the judge) has stated.
“Therefore, at the High Court level, the respondent has successfully shown there is no real danger of bias by the trial judge,” Justice Ahmad Zaidi said.
“We hereby dismiss the appeal and uphold the High Court’s decision.”
The bench included Justices Azman Abdullah and Noorin Badaruddin.
Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, first applied to have Justice Mohamed Zaini recuse himself before he was slated to deliver his decision on Sept 1, 2022.
The judge, however, dismissed the application, saying he had prepared his own judgment and did not rely on the draft, which was reportedly written by the Kuala Lumpur High Court research unit.
On the same day, Rosmah was found guilty on three corruption charges linked to the solar hybrid project and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970mil, in default of 30 years in prison.
Rosmah was charged with one count of soliciting RM187.5mil and two counts of receiving RM6.5mil in bribes from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin, all linked to the solar hybrid project.
She was granted a stay of execution on the sentences pending her appeal against her conviction and sentences.
She also appealed against the dismissal of her bid for the judge’s recusal.
