Published October 05,2021
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Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian premier Najib Razak, said on Tuesday she is innocent of seeking bribes related to rural electrification work, claiming a former aide-turned-prosecution-witness should be on trial in her place.
Opening her defence, the former first lady - whose husband has been convicted on corruption charges - said "it is I who should be a prosecution witness," according to local media reports.
Rosmah, 69, was forced to take the stand at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur after her application for a stay on proceedings was dismissed on Monday and an earlier attempt to have the lead prosecuting lawyer disqualified was also thrown out.
She is accused of receiving the equivalent of 1.6 million dollars in bribes linked to a project to supply electricity to hundreds of schools in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo.
Husband Najib, who led Malaysia from 2009-18, was last year found guilty of corruption related to his time in office and sentenced to 13 years in jail. He remains free, pending an appeal, but faces four other related trials.
