This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (pic), wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has been told by the Sessions Court to attend the case management for a second graft trial involving a solar energy project on July 24.

Her lawyer Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kadir had earlier made an oral application for Rosmah to be exempted from attending the court proceedings on that day.

Akberdin said the case management on July 24 is merely a matter of internal formality and thus, the defence had requested for Rosmah to be given an exemption from attending the next case management.

Judge Azura Alwi, however, said she might only consider exempting Rosmah’s attendance for exchange of documents between prosecutors and lawyers, but not when it involves the transfer of case officially if the prosecution is successful in its application.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mohd Farizul Hassan Bakri, who appeared with DPP Poh Yih Tinn, told the court that the High Court has fixed Friday to hear the application by the prosecution to transfer the case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.

Following this, Judge Azura ordered both parties to be present at her court on the same day, to update her on the High Court’s ruling in relation to the prosecution’s application.

The prosecution made the transfer application on the basis that the first bribery charge faced by Rosmah over the same solar project had been transferred to the High Court.

On Nov 15 last year, Rosmah, 67, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to two counts of receiving bribes, totalling RM1.5 million, in the implementation of the project to supply and install solar energy at 369 rural schools in Sarawak two years ago.

The case was then allowed to be transferred to the High Court on March 15.

On April 10, Rosmah was slapped with another charge for receiving a bribe involving RM5 million in connection with the same solar project.