The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters its 53rd day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Defence's cross-examination of final witness may take 2 days or more
- Najib has conjunctivitis, hearing adjourned until Monday
- Proceedings begin without Najib
Thank you for following Malaysiakini's live report
10am - Thank you for following our live report today.
Defence's cross-examination of final witness may take 2 days or more
9.47am - Shortly before today's session is adjourned, the court hears from lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that his team might take two days, or slightly more, to cross-examine MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain.
This is after DPP V Sithambaram says that the prosecution might take another two or three hours to finish their examination-in-chief of the 57th prosecution witness.
Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali also schedules case management for 10am next Monday, in order to allow the defence and prosecution in the 1MDB trial to attend proceedings before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah first.
Najib has conjunctivitis, hearing adjourned until Monday
9.45am - Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allows an application by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to adjourn the hearing until Monday, as the accused, Najib Abdul Razak, has caught conjunctivitis in both eyes.
Shafee also tells the court that the former premier had been attended to by an eye specialist this morning, who gave him a three-day medical certificate starting today.
According to the lawyer, a soft copy of the MC chit and photograph of Najib's eyes had also been received and shown to the prosecution.
DPP V Sithambaram confirms this with the court, and tells the judge that they support the application due to the medical condition of the accused.
"I was shown the photo and can confirm that it looks quite bad.
"Due to the medical condition of the accused, the prosecution supports the defence's application for adjournment.
"(And) because this is conjunctivitis, we might all end up infected (if Najib were to attend the hearing)," he says.
Proceedings begin without Najib
9.42am - Proceedings begin without Najib Abdul Razak in the dock.
9.10am - Former prime minister Najib has not been seen at court yet.
His lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is seen conferring with DPP V Sithambaram.
It is understood but not yet confirmed that the accused may have taken sick leave today.
An aide of Najib sits in the front row of the public gallery while awaiting the start of proceedings.
However, under normal circumstances, more than one aide would already have been in the public gallery before Najib arrives at the courtroom.
As the final prosecution witness and MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain resumes his testimony during the 53rd day of Najib Abdul Razak's RM42 million SRC International trial today, the former prime minister's separate RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial will loom over the proceedings.
With the Federal Court denying a final appeal by Najib to vacate his 1MDB trial from Monday next week, the SRC International proceedings before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali may acquire a certain sense of urgency.
With Attorney-General Tommy Thomas himself reportedly saying yesterday that the prosecution will close its case in Najib's SRC International trial by Friday this week, all eyes will be on the pace of the prosecution's examination-in-chief, the defence's cross-examination, and the prosecution's re-examination of Rosli.
This is particularly when one takes into account the 1MDB trial before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, which is initially set to run for four days from Monday to Thursday next week.
Rosli had so far given revealing oral evidence on matters such as fugitive businessperson Jho Low and SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil being last seen in Malaysia on May 29, 2015 and May 7, 2018 respectively.
In addition, the court learned that Interpol Red Notices were issued against both men, who were thought to be either in China, its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, or Myanmar.
- Mkini
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