KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor is currently in a witness protection programme, the prosecution in her trial revealed.

Earlier today, Rizal had entered the courtroom where Rosmah's trial was being held, as he had to present himself for identification by ninth prosecution witness Datuk Ahmed Farriq Zainul Abidin.

But instead of entering through the usual witness room by the side of the courtroom, Rizal was seen entering from a room near the front of the courtroom usually accessed only by court officials.

When this happened, Rosmah's lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh stood up to protest, arguing that it was not proper for Rizal to have entered through this entrance, saying "He should not be coming from that room".

While High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan assured that the room which Rizal had entered from does not go to the judge's room, Jagjit continued protesting by saying that the "perception is not good".

The prosecution's deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib then said he did not know of the security arrangements that could have been in place for Rizal due to his status as a protected witness.

"I don't know what happened... But what I know this witness is under witness protection programme... whatever arrangement they have with security I don't know, but I will make sure this doesn't happen again," Ahmad Akram said.

The judge took note of the comment and also said that the "perception can be quite bad" with such a scenario.

During trial, witnesses who testify are sometimes asked to identify individuals that they had named during their testimony.

Among other things, prosecution witness Ahmed Farriq — who had identified Rizal — today testified that he had accompanied Rizal to drop off bags that were picked up at a Pavilion building in Kuala Lumpur that were then dropped off and brought into the prime minister's official residence in Putrajaya, Seri Perdana, in December 2016.

Ahmed Farriq also said that Rizal had told him that the bags contained cash, but also said the value was not disclosed.

In this trial, Rosmah is accused of having solicited RM187.5 million in bribes from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd's Saidi Abang Samsudin and for taking a RM1.5 million bribe from him and a separate RM5 million bribe from him via Rizal, in exchange for helping the company Jepak Holdings get a RM1.25 billion project from the Education Ministry.

Rizal was previously charged with allegedly helping Rosmah ask for a RM187.5 million bribe from Saidi and for allegedly seeking a smaller sum of RM25 million for himself, and also with allegedly receiving a RM5 million bribe from Saidi on behalf of Rosmah and for allegedly receiving a RM500,000 bribe from Saidi for himself.

Rizal was initially scheduled to be on joint trial with Rosmah, but the prosecution had in January withdrawn charges against Rizal before the trial started this February.

The prosecution had said it would decide on whether it would call Rizal to testify as a prosecution witness against Rosmah, depending on how the trial comes along.