Judge rejects bid to delay Najib's trial over ex-AG's claims against Sri Ram

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has rejected a bid by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's defence team to delay his 1MDB audit report tampering trial over an affidavit filed by former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali accusing special prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram of previously trying to convince him to arrest Najib. 

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who had filed an application to disqualify Sri Ram from the prosecution based on the affidavit, had argued that the matter should be heard before the trial can proceed.

"We have the affidavit of a former attorney-general. On the basis and assumption, (if) it is true, then it becomes critical and the issue of disqualification (should) be decided promptly.

"Any prosecutor involved in that sort of transaction cannot be a party, cannot be independent and ought to be sent out.

"Far more important is, if this court is to go on with the trial, it would mean as though the application made is non-existent or trivialised.

"This application that is serious in nature to the public... yet the court is going on as though this is trivial when the public thinks it's not trivial. The matter has to be heard first," the lawyer told the court.

Shafee likened his application against the special prosecutor to the disqualification of a judge.

"In an analogy, one must purge contempt of court before one can be heard," he said.

However, High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan (above) said the current application did not concern the disqualification of a judge, among others.

"Recusal and contempt of court must be disposed of first but I am not aware this sort of matter applies here," he said.

Zaini then decided the trial will proceed tomorrow after granting a one-day postponement.

This is after Shafee also raised a separate issue that a member of his defence team was showing symptoms of high fever and coughing and had sought a Covid-19 test as a precaution. 

Shafee said the test results will only be known by 10am tomorrow.

[More to follow] - Mkini