Rosmah’s lawyer, Jagjit Singh, then told the court that the defence will be appealing against the failed recusal bid.

Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, had sought to recuse judge Zaini Mazlan from presiding over her case after a purported draft judgment was published by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin last week.

She claimed that the draft judgment was not prepared by Zaini, but by “third parties”.

Rosmah also alleged because of the draft judgment, she had lost confidence in the judge in deciding her case.

Zaini heard her corruption case when the trial started on Feb 5, 2020.

A total of 23 witnesses testified for the prosecution while Rosmah and Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod, who was the former director of The First Lady Of Malaysia (FLOM) division, testified for the defence.

Rosmah, 70, is charged with soliciting RM187.5 million from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin, through her then aide Rizal Mansor, as an inducement to help the company secure the RM1.25 billion Sarawak rural schools’ solar energy project through direct negotiation with the education ministry.

She is also accused of two counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.