The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and laundering of 1MDB funds enters its seventh day at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Court adjourned as Najib struck with conjunctivitis again
- Proceedings begin without Najib
- Najib's stepson Riza Aziz seen in court
Thank you for following Malaysiakini's live report
9.46am - Thank you for following our live report today.
Court adjourned as Najib struck with conjunctivitis again
9.45am - Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah tells the court that his client, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, cannot attend today's hearing as he has conjunctivitis.
According to Shafee, both Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor called him at about 7.15am today to tell him the news.
"I had a call this morning about 7.15am from my client and his wife, because they couldn't get me earlier.
"Conjunctivitis has revisited him. I think this was because of yesterday's outing, and the haze didn't help," he says.
Shafee notes that Najib (photo) has gone to see a specialist, but that he would only be attended to at 10.30am.
He then asks Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah if the hearing can be adjourned to Tuesday, saying that conjunctivitis is a contagious disease and that Najib would likely also be absent tomorrow.
The court will be closed next Monday for Malaysia Day. 1MDB hearings are only set to take place from Monday to Thursday every week.
Sequerah then asks both the prosecution and defence if they can replace the lost days on two Fridays.
Shafee, however, points out that he will be involved with the Cradle Fund CEO murder trial every Friday at the Shah Alam High Court.
Lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram says that he and the other deputy public prosecutors in this team have allocated Fridays for other cases.
Collin then rules that the court will wait for Najib's medical certificate before discussing the matter further tomorrow.
This is the second time a 1MDB-related trial has been postponed due to conjunctivitis.
On Aug 14, the SRC International hearing had to be adjourned after Najib was given medical leave for three days due to the viral infection.
Proceedings begin without Najib
9.40am - Proceedings begin minus the presence of the accused, Najib Abdul Razak.
Najib's stepson Riza Aziz seen in court
9.15am - Najib Abdul Razak's stepson Riza Aziz (photo) enters the court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery.
The gloves are off as defence lawyers continue their cross-examination of Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin on the seventh day of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial.
The salvo was fired during proceedings yesterday when lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah accused Amhari, Najib's former special officer, of cooperating with the MACC to escape criminal charges.
The heat is expected to be dialled up when proceedings resume before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah this morning.
With Shafee only getting to paragraph 37 of Amhari's 198-paragraph witness statement, the cross-examination is expected to drag on beyond today's hearing. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.