The corruption trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor, involving alleged misappropriation of funds for the supply and installation of solar energy at 369 rural schools in Sarawak continues today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
Former education minister Mahdzir Khalid is expected to continue giving his testimony as a witness in the corruption trial against Rosmah Mansor, who is facing three charges in relation to the RM1.25 billion project to supply hybrid solar system to 369 schools in Sarawak.
The hearing presided by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan enters its fifth day today.
Today's proceedings will be a continuation of yesterday's cross-examination of the fifth prosecution witness by the defence.
Mahdzir, who started giving his testimony since the second day of the trial last week, had through his witness statement given the court blow-by-blow accounts on how the project landed in the hands of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd with the alleged help of Rosmah, her aide Rizal Mansor, Rosmah's husband who was the then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, and Pekan Umno secretary Aazmey Abu Talib.
Serving as the minister in charge during the material time the contract was awarded to Jepak, Mahdzir testified that he had doubts with the company which he said was known to be involved in transport provider business with no experience in solar-powered electricity systems.
He told the court that the project had to be given to the company despite its inexperience, alleging that Rosmah and Najib were putting pressure on him.
Rosmah's defence lawyer Jagjit Singh, meanwhile, had been during the cross-examination which started on Monday threw accusations against the witness suggesting that he was a corrupt minister.
The counsel had on multiple times during his examination put to Mahdzir that the latter had approved the project on his own instead, in exchange for alleged kickbacks from Jepak Holdings.
Among the allegations put to the witness was that Mahdzir had an agreement with Jepak managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin for RM1 million to be paid monthly to Mahdzir for five years.
Jagjit also suggested to Mahdzir that he was lying when he implicated Rosmah in his testimony and that he did so to deflect the allegations from himself.
Mahdzir, however, had been constantly denied all the accusations made by the lawyer.
The witness also denied any knowledge of another allegation made by Jagjit, where the lawyer asked him if he knew that Rizal Mansor had asked Jepak for kickbacks of RM125 million to help secure the contract. - mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.