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Rosmah seeks temporary release of passport to travel again

Rosmah Mansor intends to visit her daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib who is due to deliver her third child on Aug 28 in Singapore.

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Rosmah Mansor is appealing her conviction by the High Court for corruption and the sentence of 10 years in prison and RM970mil fine. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: Rosmah Mansor has again applied to court for the temporary release of her passport so that she can travel to Singapore to meet her daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib and other family members.

In the application filed through her solicitors Akberdin & Co last week, Rosmah said Nooryana is scheduled to deliver her third child on Aug 28.

The wife of former prime minister Najib Razak said she hopes the application will be allowed as she had adhered to all conditions imposed by the court in connection with her previous overseas travels.

She also said that no party would be prejudiced by the application.

Rosmah is seeking the release of her passport from Aug 18 to Aug 23, Aug 26 to Sept 6, and Sept 9 to Oct 31.

She said she will return to Malaysia for the periods between those respective dates to attend ongoing court proceedings.

Deputy public prosecutor Poh Yih Tinn confirmed that the prosecution has been served with a copy of Rosmah’s application and said that the Court of Appeal will hear the matter tomorrow.

In June, the Court of Appeal allowed Rosmah’s passport to be released for travel to Singapore between June 15 and July 7. The prosecution did not object to the application.

On Sept 1, 2022, Rosmah, 71, was convicted of soliciting RM187.5 million from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former aide, Rizal Mansor, as an inducement to help the company secure a RM1.25 billion Sarawak rural schools’ solar energy project.

She was also convicted on charges of receiving bribes of RM5 million and RM1.5 million from Saidi on Dec 20, 2016 and Sept 7, 2017, respectively.

Trial judge Zaini Mazlan sentenced her to 10 years in prison for each of the three charges, but ordered that they run concurrently. She was also fined RM970 million.

Rosmah is out on RM1 million bail pending the hearing of her appeal in the Court of Appeal.

She is also standing trial on 12 money laundering charges involving RM7.09 million, and five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).

The trial will commence on Aug 24 if the attorney-general rejects representations filed on her behalf asking that the charges be dropped.

This is the fourth time that Rosmah is applying for the release of her passport to enable her to travel to Singapore.

The first application was made with the High Court on Oct 15, 2021. However, on Dec 2, 2021, FMT reported that the prosecution had asked the Court of Appeal to issue a warrant of arrest and to revoke Rosmah’s bail, over her failure to comply with the order to return to Malaysia by Nov 21, 2021. The request was turned down by the appellate court.

The second request, covering the period March 23 to May 6, was made to enable her to help care for a sick grandson.

Nooryana is married to Daniyar Kessikbayev, a Kazakhstan national. The couple and their two sons now reside in Singapore.