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Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak, did not show up for her court hearing on Thursday, Dec. 2, Malay Mail reported.

As a result, the Court of Appeal has ordered Rosmah to appear in court next Monday, Dec. 6.

No arrest warrant issued

The chair of the three-judges panel, Hanipah Farikullah, said that the panel has decided not to issue an arrest warrant for Rosmah over her failure to attend the court proceeding.

"The court is using its discretion to withhold the arrest warrant. Moreover, she (Rosmah) has never been absent from the High Court proceedings," Hanipah said, as reported by Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

The High Court had approved a temporary release of Rosmah's passport from Oct. 15 to Dec. 6, to allow her to travel to Singapore so that she could be with her daughter, Nooryana Najib, who was in labour.

The court had made strict conditions for Rosmah to only leave for Singapore on Oct. 22, and for her to return to Malaysia on Nov. 21.

However, she was apparently still in Singapore on Nov. 29, as seen from a picture that her daughter posted, where she and Najib were holding their newborn grandson, Aidan Najib Daniyar.

On the other hand, Najib was granted permission by the Court of Appeal, on Oct. 18, to have his passport temporarily returned to him so he can travel to Singapore to be with his daughter. 

Initially, he was scheduled to leave for Singapore on Oct. 20 and return by Nov. 22.

However, Najib had asked for a postponement of the trip as he was involved in campaigning for the Malacca state election. He changed his travel date to Nov. 21 and amended his request to return his passport by Dec. 12.

Letter sent informing court Rosmah in Singapore

According to FMT, Rosmah's lawyers told the Court of Appeal that a letter has been sent on Dec. 1, informing the court that Rosmah is currently in Singapore and will only be back in Malaysia on Dec. 6.

However, Hanipah said that the panel only received the letter minutes before the proceedings began.

According to The Edge Market, Rosmah's lawyer, Jagjit Singh, said that there was an oversight and changes in Rosmah's travel schedule.

He said that these changes were as a result of the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Singapore and Malaysia launched on Nov. 29.

It was not exactly clear when Rosmah arrived in Singapore, or whether Rosmah travelled to Singapore and back under the VTL.

Lawyer bears full responsibility for oversight

Singh said that he bears full responsibility for the oversight, adding that Rosmah will be in court on Dec. 6.

He highlighted that Rosmah had never failed to attend court proceedings for her trial.

According to FMT, lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram had asked the Court of Appeal to issue a warrant of arrest and revoke Rosmah's bail as she failed to comply with the court order dated Oct. 15. 

"We are not talking about children, we are talking about equal adults who know what their duties, liabilities and responsibilities are," Sri Ram said, as reported by The Edge Market.

Sri Ram defended his position by stating that there would be no point in making court orders if people are to ignore such orders.

He added that the law should be applied across the board to prevent the public from losing confidence.

Hanipah also said Rosmah should have asked for an extension of the order, and that Rosmah's lawyer should have apologised for the oversight, The Edge Market further reported.

Other than the appeal hearing, another hearing is set to resume on Dec. 8 in relation to Rosmah's alleged involvement in soliciting and receiving bribes from a RM1.25 billion (S$403 million) project, which provides electricity to rural schools in Sarawak.

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Top images via Yana Najib/Facebook and Wikipedia