Wife of ex-Malaysia PM Najib fails in bid to recuse High Court judge
Sign up now: Get insights on the biggest stories in Malaysia
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak, had appealed against the decision of Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who presided over her corruption trial.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
PUTRAJAYA - The Court of Appeal in Malaysia has dismissed an application by Rosmah Mansor to recuse the High Court judge who presided over her RM1.25 billion (S$383 million) corruption trial linked to 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 then High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan was a draft judgment in her case that was allegedly prepared by a third party and leaked to the public before its official delivery.
He said the court considered both the draft judgment and the full 116-page grounds of judgment by Justice Mohamed Zaini.
“After going through both documents, it was clear to us that there was a stark difference 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,” Justice Ahmad Zaidi said.
“Therefore, at the High Court level, the respondent has successfully shown there is no real danger of bias by the trial judge in this instance.”
After considering submissions from both parties, the panel found that the appellant had failed to prove merit in the appeal.
“We hereby dismiss the appeal and uphold the High Court’s decision,” Justice Ahmad Zaidi said.
The bench also included Justices Azman Abdullah and Noorin Badaruddin.
Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, had appealed against the decision of Justice Mohamed Zaini, now a Court of Appeal judge, who had earlier dismissed her application for his recusal from presiding over her case.
She filed the recusal application just before the judge was slated to deliver his decision on Sept 1, 2022.
On the same day, Rosmah was found guilty of three corruption charges linked to the solar hybrid project and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970 million, in default of 30 years in prison.
She had been charged with one count of soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving RM6.5 million in bribes from former Jepak Holdings 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 sentence at the Court of Appeal. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
