In tears, Rosmah tells court she's innocent

Rosmah Mansor broke into tears in court today as she told High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan that she was innocent and never had any thoughts about squandering money.

Rosmah, 70, in giving her statement from the dock, said she was a victim as she had never solicited any money.  

"I hope Your Honour will consider the fact that I am a woman taking over a man’s role in my house. 

"My Lord, look at me as a woman with compassion, with some humanity. Never ever had I touched the money even in Bakti (Badan Amal dan Kebajikan Tenaga Isteri-Isteri Menteri dan Timbalan Menteri). I do not know Jepak Holdings (Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd former managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin). I advised him not to be cheated. I have never solicited any money. Nobody saw me count the money and bring it upstairs.

"Hear what I want to say. I respect your decision but I want to leave with good memories of what the court is all about. I formed a special court for children (for sexual offences).

"Nobody thought about drug addicts and sat down with those in the government and private sector and adopted an idea from Unicef to start with the children," she said in her mitigation for a lenient sentence.

The wife of former prime minister Najib Razak also said she had always spoken the truth.

"We have been here all this time. I have always spoken the truth. This is what I believe in and what I have passed down to the children of the Permata programme. 

"My Lord, I want the children to have good manners and that is why the government ran Permata (including) Permata Kurnia and dealt with issues faced by youths, including those at low-cost flats.

"I am pleased to have been 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," she said.

Rosmah also said that while she was the chairman of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, she had never thought about taking money.

"I never influenced my husband," she said.

At one point, Rosmah also said that her entire family had suffered from what happened to them.

"I am a victim. It may happen to your children. We have all suffered," she said, adding that she was leaving the matter to Allah.