Rosmah’s appeal in solar project corruption case to be heard

Rosmah Mansor’s appeal against her corruption conviction is finally due to be heard after almost four years of legal delays.

The appeal concerns her 10-year prison sentence and RM970 million fine, imposed after she was found guilty of three corruption charges linked to a RM1.25 billion hybrid solar project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.

The hearing had originally been scheduled for July 2023. It was delayed while Rosmah challenged the appointment of the late Datuk Gopal Sri Ram as lead prosecutor and sought to halt the corruption trial. The case was delayed again in October 2024 after she sought to remove High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, now a Court of Appeal judge, alleging that his judgment had been leaked on social media.

The Federal Court rejected that review application on July 29. Before allowing the latest postponement, a three-member Court of Appeal panel set 16 days in September for the appeal and said there would be no further delays. The dates listed are Sept. 1 to 4, 8 to 11 and 21 to 30.

Mohamed Zaini sentenced Rosmah on Sept. 1, 2022. The court ordered the three 10-year prison terms to run concurrently and imposed fines of RM937.5 million, RM7.5 million and RM25 million. If she fails to pay the total, she could face another 30 years in prison.