PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will hear Rosmah Mansor’s final bid to remove lawyer Gopal Sri Ram as the ad hoc prosecutor in her corruption case and to nullify the trial on March 24
Deputy public prosecutor Poh Yih Tinn said the date was fixed before the court’s registrar today.
“As of now, the hearing will be heard in open court,” he said. However, the prosecution would write to the court to ask for the hearing to be conducted through Zoom.
Lawyer Jagjit Singh appeared for Rosmah.
Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision to dismiss Rosmah’s application to remove Sri Ram from her case and to declare her trial as null and void.
The court had said it had no jurisdiction to grant the reliefs that Rosmah had sought.
Sri Ram, in defending his appointment as the ad hoc prosecutor, told the appeals court a criminal court had no jurisdiction to allow Rosmah’s application for a declaration to remove him from leading the prosecution team and annul her trial.
He said the criminal court could only acquit, convict or quash a charge for being groundless.
Rosmah’s corruption case will resume before the High Court on Jan 10, where her husband, Najib Razak, is scheduled to testify.
She is facing three counts of corruption for allegedly soliciting RM187.5 million from businessman Saidi Abang Samsudin, through former aide Rizal Mansor, as an inducement to help his company secure the the solar panel project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, worth RM1.25 billion, through direct negotiations with the education ministry.
She is also accused of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.-FMT