AN emotional Rosmah Mansor has maintained her innocence as she addressed the court following her corruption conviction.

“I must admit I am very sad with what has happened. I have never solicited any money.

“It really took me by surprise how things can twist and turn, and make (me) a victim. Every time I open my mouth, my husband would always say ‘Rosmah, you are just my wife, don’t interfere.’

“It can happen to me now, it can happen to all of you. I’m a victim in all of this. Look at me as a woman with compassion, with some humanity,” she said between sobs.

“You have done this to my husband and my family has suffered. I’m just a woman who is just taking over a man’s role in the house,” she said, referring to the Federal Court upholding Najib Razak’s conviction and sentence in the SRC International case last week.

The former prime minister is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence and will have to pay a RM210 million fine in default of another five years of imprisonment.

Rosmah could be jailed for up to 20 years and fined five times the amount received or solicited under section 24(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009.

On February 18, 2021, Rosmah, 70, was ordered to enter her defence on the three charges after the prosecution succeeded in proving there was a case against her.

She was charged with soliciting RM188 million in gratification and two counts of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd former managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin.

The bribes were allegedly received through her former aide Rizal Mansor as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings to secure the Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar System Integrated Project, as well as the maintenance and operation of diesel generator sets for 369 rural Sarawak schools worth RM1.25 billion from the Education Ministry through direct negotiation.

Rosmah claimed that she did not know the people in Jepak Holdings, the company that was awarded the solar contract, and insisted that she had never taken any money from them. 

“I do not know Jepak Holdings. I have never solicited any money. Nobody saw me count the money and bring it upstairs (my house),” she said. 

She pleaded for leniency in consideration of her contributions to the country during her time as the prime minister’s wife.

“I formed a special court for children (for sexual offences). And nobody thought about drug addicts and sat down with those in the government and the private sector.

“I have always spoken the truth. This is what I believe and what I have passed down to the children of Permata… My Lord, I want the children to have good manners and that is why the government ran Permata, Permata Kurnia and dealt with issues faced by youths, including those at the low-cost flats,” said Rosmah.

“I am pleased to be able to contribute to the country and it hurts me to see children running all over the place. I want to bring the children of this country to a higher level.

“So, here, what I want to say, I respect your decision but I want to leave with a good memory of what the court is all about,” she said. 

Rosmah was found guilty for all three charges today and was sentenced to 10 years in jail and a fine of RM970 million. 

Judge Mohamad Zaini Mazlan has granted a stay of execution until Rosmah’s appeal is disposed of at the Court of Appeal. – September 1, 2022.