The Court of Appeal has granted Rosmah Mansor temporary release of her passport until April 30, allowing her to travel to Singapore to visit her daughter.
Rosmah’s lawyer, Jagjit Singh, made the request during online proceedings before a three-member bench chaired by Justice Azmi Ariffin, alongside Justices Noorin Badaruddin and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid. Justice Azmi noted that the application was allowed as the deputy public prosecutor, K Mangai, representing the prosecution, raised no objection.
Jagjit informed the court that Rosmah, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, sought the release of her impounded passport to travel to Singapore from February 1 to April 30. She is scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur from February 20 to 26 for her February 25 appeal hearing concerning her bid to recuse former High Court judge Zaini Mazlan, now a Court of Appeal judge, from her corruption case linked to the hybrid solar project.
Rosmah filed the recusal application shortly before Zaini was set to deliver his judgment in her case on September 1, 2022, alleging that a draft judgment, allegedly prepared by a third party, had been leaked before the official decision was announced.
On the same day, Zaini found the 74-year-old guilty of three corruption charges, sentencing her to 10 years in prison and imposing a RM970 million fine, or 30 years’ imprisonment in default. She subsequently filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal and was granted a stay of execution on both her custodial sentence and fine pending the appeal’s outcome.
Rosmah was charged with one count of soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving RM6.5 million in bribes from the former managing director of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd, Saidi Abang Samsudin.
