Trial Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan fixed the date after hearing oral submissions from the prosecution and defence.

The prosecution had called 23 witnesses to prove its case. The trial started on Feb 5 last year.

The wife of ex-prime minister Najib Razak will have a case to answer if the prosecution establishes a prima facie case. Otherwise, Rosmah is entitled to an acquittal.

Rosmah is accused of soliciting RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin, through her then aide Rizal Mansor as an inducement to help the company obtain the contract through direct negotiation with the education ministry.

She is also charged with two counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million – RM1.5 million from Saidi at her private residence at Langgak Duta here on Sept 7, 2017, and another RM5 million from Saidi through Rizal at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya on Dec 20, 2016.

Earlier, ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram in his submission said the crux of the defence’s case was that Rosmah did not personally solicit and receive the money from Saidi.

“But that is not our case. The solicitation was done through Rizal,” he said, adding that such demand could be made through another person as provided under Section 16 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act (MACC).

Sri Ram said Rosmah was a clever person as she used Rizal as her agent.

He said Rizal, under the MACC Act, was not an accomplice as he was concerned with the commission of graft or had knowledge of the offence.

“His evidence together with that of Saidi and Saidi’s former business partner Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah need not be corroborated,” he added.

Sri Ram said the delivery of money on two occasions to Rosmah must be seen in its entirety and not in isolation that she had indeed committed the alleged offences.

“Proof of delivery was made through credible direct evidence,” he said, adding that circumstantial evidence came when she used her influence to pressure then education minister Mahdzir Khalid to follow Najib’s directives.

Sri Ram, who was assisted by deputy public prosecutors Idham Abdul Ghani, Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mohamed Mustafa Kunyalam and Poh Yin Tinn, said Rosmah’s defence ought to be called on the maximum evaluation of the evidence presented.

Rosmah’s lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kadir said there was no reason for her to intervene on behalf of the company as Saidi had obtained 14 letters (or minutes) from Najib’s aide, Ahmad Aazmey Abu Talib to get the project.

Further, he said it was Saidi and Rayyan who offered a political donation through Rosmah so that Barisan Nasional (BN) under Najib would do well in the 14th general election.

“The donation was meant for Najib as a ‘gesture of gratitude’ for supporting the application by Jepak to secure the solar project and to ensure BN’s victory,” he said.

Akberdin said there was no conclusive evidence that Rosmah solicited and directly received the money.

“In fact, three butlers who carried the bags that allegedly contained money to a room were not called to give evidence by the prosecution,” he said, adding that an adverse inference in favour of Rosmah should be drawn.

Another of Rosmah’s counsel, Jagjit Singh said the evidence of Rizal should be rejected as he was an accomplice together with Saidi and Rayyan.

“He was initially charged together with Rosmah but the prosecution dropped the charges against him to give evidence against the accused,” he added.

Jagjit said Rosmah was a victim of selective prosecution as others like Mahdzir and a senior education ministry official who allegedly took bribes were spared.

He said Rosmah’s trial could be declared a nullity as Sri Ram’s appointment as ad hoc prosecutor was also questionable.

“In the recently published memoirs of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, it was revealed that Sri Ram’s appointment was only in relation to investigation and prosecution of 1MDB-related cases,” he said.

Last year, Zaini dismissed Rosmah’s application to disqualify Sri Ram from leading the prosecution and she has since filed an appeal.

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