Court of Appeal Allows Rosmah Mansor to Introduce New Evidence in Solar Project Graft Appeal

Court Allows New Evidence in Rosmah Appeal

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has allowed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to introduce additional evidence in her appeal against her conviction and sentence in the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project case. The decision paves the way for the evidence to be heard by the High Court, which will take testimony from a prosecution witness who now claims he gave evidence under duress.

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Choo Kah Sing, Azhahari Kamal Ramli, and K. Muniandy, allowed the applications to adduce the new evidence, according to reports by Malay Mail and The Star. The panel ordered that the additional evidence be taken before another High Court judge.

Justice Choo, who read the panel's decision as reported by Malay Mail, said the court was satisfied that the requirements for admitting the additional evidence had been met. "The evidence should be admitted if it could not, without reasonable diligence, be obtained at trial, is relevant, credible, and capable of belief," he was quoted as saying. He added that if the evidence admitted could lead to a different outcome, "these principles have been consistently applied here."

Details of the Application

According to The Star, the application was for leave under Section 61 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 and Rules 68 and 69 of the Court of Appeal Rules 1994 to adduce three documents as additional evidence. Those documents were a cover letter from Messrs Shamsuddin & Co dated July 10; a police report lodged by prosecution witness Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah on July 10; and a statutory declaration affirmed by Rayyan on July 10, along with all attachments, including an additional affidavit affirmed by the same person on Aug 3, 2020.

The additional evidence will be taken through further cross-examination and re-examination of prosecution witness PW16, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, with any other evidence introduced by either side restricted to matters connected with that evidence, as reported by Malay Mail. The court was told that Rayyan had given his testimony under duress.

Justice Choo said the additional evidence directly concerned Rosmah's alleged knowledge and the role of Rizal Mansor, as well as the credibility of Rayyan's testimony, according to Malay Mail. He clarified that the court was not determining the truth of the new evidence at this stage, but whether it was necessary and capable of belief. If the additional evidence was ultimately accepted as true, it could materially affect the appeal, he said.

The hearing to record the new evidence has been instructed to be remitted back to the High Court before a new judge, as reported by The Star.

Objections and Timeline

The prosecution objected to the applications on grounds including the delay and timing following the death of former lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, according to Malay Mail. Rosmah's lawyers were Datuk Jagjit Singh and Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader.

The panel fixed Oct 14-16 and Oct 19-23 for the matter, as reported by Malay Mail.

Background

Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was found guilty on all three counts of graft in the solar hybrid project case and sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM970 million, according to Malay Mail. The project was awarded to Jepak Holdings.