Rosmah claims conspiracy in appointment of Sri Ram as prosecutor

Rosmah Mansor today claimed as null and void the appointment of Gopal Sri Ram as deputy public prosecutor to handle a corruption case against her.

Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, who is facing charges involving a solar hybrid project worth RM1.25 billion for rural schools in Sarawak, claimed that Sri Ram’s appointment by then attorney-general, Tommy Thomas, made orally under Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), was never gazetted or highlighted during her previous application and appeal to obtain Sri Ram’s fiat (appointment letter) in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

“The alleged appointment by Thomas under Section 376 (3) of the CPC is totally against the logic of common sense, where fiat in writing under that section is a mandatory requirement under law in the context of the prosecution against me.

“Thomas also conspired with Sri Ram to persecute me and the former attorney-general’s action of lying in the affidavit which he swore upon is unforgivable and an insult to the court,” Rosmah said in her affidavit-in-reply filed on May 21 in response to Thomas’ affidavit on behalf of Sri Ram.

Thomas’ affidavit was in response to Rosmah’s application to invalidate her entire trial in an effort to be acquitted of all three charges and to request that Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, be dropped from leading the prosecution team in the trial.

Rosmah also claimed that Thomas, through his book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, published this year, had admitted that Sri Ram’s appointment was related to the 1MDB issue and not the solar hybrid case.

“I have also been informed that two police reports were lodged by Aizulhaimi Mohd Termizi and Hamidah Osman, dated May 18 and May 20 respectively, in relation to the lies by Thomas in his affidavit.

“What is clear is that Thomas has conspired with Sri Ram to ensure that their wicked agenda to persecute me is achieved, as they did to Najib Razak,” Rosmah said in her affidavit-in-reply.

Thomas, in his sworn affidavit, claimed that Sri Ram’s appointment as deputy public prosecutor in 2018 was to handle high-profile criminal cases including Rosmah’s solar hybrid project case, and that it was in accordance with Section 376 (3) of the CPC as Sri Ram was under his general control and directive and was in a position to exercise all the powers of the public prosecutor.

Rosmah’s application, filed on May 6, is set to be heard before High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on June 3.

Rosmah, 69, filed the application after the Court of Appeal on April 8 allowed her appeal to get a copy of Sri Ram’s appointment letter, after the prosecution agreed to provide it to the defence team.

Rosmah brought the matter up for appeal after the High Court dismissed her application for Sri Ram’s appointment letter on Aug 19 last year.

The appointment letter was not dated on or before Nov 15, 2018, the day when Rosmah was charged in court, and was not signed by then attorney-general Thomas.

Instead, the letter was dated July 8 last year and signed by the current attorney-general, Idrus Harun.

On Feb 18, Zaini ordered Rosmah to enter her defence on all three corruption charges and fixed nine days, namely on June 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23 and July 12 and 15, to hear evidence from Rosmah and other defence witnesses.