Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has allowed Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, to temporarily use her passport so she can travel to Singapore to visit her daughter.
A three-judge panel led by Justice Azmi Ariffin approved Rosmah’s application after Deputy Public Prosecutor K. Mangai said the prosecution did not object, according to reports by Malaysian media. The other judges on the panel were Justices Noorin Badaruddin and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid. The proceedings were conducted online.
Rosmah, 74, had requested that her impounded passport be released from February 1 to April 30. Her lawyer, Jagjit Singh, told the court that she would return to Kuala Lumpur between February 20 and February 26 to attend an appeal hearing scheduled for February 25.
The upcoming hearing relates to Rosmah’s bid to disqualify the judge who presided over her corruption trial, Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal. Rosmah filed the recusal application in August 2022, shortly before the trial judge was due to deliver his verdict, claiming that a draft judgment allegedly prepared by a third party had been leaked before the decision was formally issued.
On September 1, 2022, Judge Mohamed Zaini found Rosmah guilty on three corruption charges linked to a government project to supply hybrid solar energy systems to rural schools in Sarawak. She was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and fined RM970 million, with a default sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment if the fine is not paid.
Prosecutors said Rosmah had solicited RM187.5 million and received RM6.5 million in bribes from Saidi Abang Samsudin, the former managing director of Jepak Holdings, a company associated with the project.
Rosmah has appealed against both her conviction and sentence, and the court has granted a stay of execution on the jail term and fine pending the outcome of the appeal.
