KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 1): A tearful Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor pleaded for compassion during mitigation of her sentencing on Thursday.
"I appeal to you to have some compassion, be human about it. I am a victim. It happened to me now; it can happen to all of you, your children," she said while addressing the court after her conviction.
"You have done it to my husband," she said, referring to former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was sent to Kajang Prison and ordered to pay his RM210 million fine after losing his final appeal in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case at the Federal Court.
Voice cracking, Rosmah, clad in a beige-yellow baju kurung and matching tudung, asked the court to think of her as a "woman taking over a man's role in the house".
"Look at me as a woman with some compassion and humanity," she said.
Rosmah maintains innocence, blames ex-aide
Rosmah also maintained her innocence and said that her former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor was the one who was familiar with the company.
Rizal was initially a co-accused before he turned star prosecution witness.
"If I wanted to solicit [money] I would have solicited in other places.
"I don't know this Jepak Holdings. The person who knows him is Rizal Mansor. I advised him [to] be careful, don't be taken for a ride," she said.
She said that she had never asked to see them or solicit any money from them.
"But if that is the conclusion, I leave it to God," she said.
'I never influenced my husband'
She also claimed that she had never influenced her husband Najib.
"Every time I opened my mouth, he would say, 'Rosmah, you are just my wife, don't interfere,'" she said.
Rosmah highlights her contributions to the nation in plea
The former first lady also highlighted her contributions — namely her brainchild, Program Permata Negara (Permata), for early childhood education and said that she was happy to have contributed to the well-being of the country.
She also pointed out that she was in charge of the Badminton Association of Malaysia and the Girl Guides Association Malaysia.
She said that she was in charge of Permata Foundation which she claimed had about RM22 million, as well as the Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) which she claimed had about RM45 million. She did not elaborate on the details of these funds.
"Never ever have I thought [of squandering] any money. Never have I touched a single cent of [the money] of those foundations," she said.
The High Court found Rosmah Mansor guilty on all three counts of graft and sentenced her to 10 years' jail and imposed a fine of RM970 million, the largest amount ever imposed by the High Court for a graft case.
In delivering the verdict, High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled that her defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case.
Rosmah, 70, was charged with soliciting RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd former managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin for the RM1.25 billion project awarded by the Education Ministry between April and August 2016.
She was also accused of receiving RM5 million and RM1.5 million from Saidi at her private residence in Jalan Langgak Duta and at the then prime minister's official residence in Seri Perdana between Dec 20, 2016 and Sept 7, 2017.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
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