Malaysian court rules corruption trial of Rosmah Mansor, wife of ex-PM Najib Razak, to proceed
- A judge ordered her to enter a defence, saying there was enough evidence for her trial on charges of soliciting and receiving bribes to continue
- Najib, sentenced to 12 years in jail in his first trial over 1MDB looting, and his wife have faced anger over alleged corruption and their opulent lifestyle
Dozens of charges were filed against the couple after Najib lost the 2018 election, amid anger over alleged corruption and their opulent lifestyle after police raids revealed Rosmah owned millions of dollars worth of jewellery and luxury handbags.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the prosecution had proved sufficient grounds for the case to proceed.
“This is my finding that the prosecution has produced credible evidence to prove every element of the offence … I now call upon the accused to enter a defence,” Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said.
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Rosmah, who wore a traditional Malay dress with a shawl covering her head, told the court that she would testify under oath during defence proceedings.
Her lawyer, Jagjit Singh, said after the hearing the defence would be “hampered to a certain extent” because the judge did not explain the factors behind his decision, adding that this had caused his client emotional distress.
“We had to comfort her a little bit. We just told her to go back to her house and remove all the stress that has gone through here,” Jagjit told reporters.
Rosmah was earlier accompanied by Najib, who had to leave midway through her hearing to attend to his own court case.
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Of that total, prosecutors accuse Rosmah of arranging for 187 million ringgit to be paid as a political donation to Najib, while also receiving two bribes of 6.5 million ringgit.
If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to 20 years and fined at least five times the sum specified in the charges.
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The couple have denied any wrongdoing, saying the charges are politically motivated.
Rosmah’s case will resume on June 9.
