Najib Trial Day 43 Court Adjourned To Thursday As Defence Counsel Falls Sick

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The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters its 43rd day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings

Summary of Najib’s SRC RM42 million caseNajib is facing 7 charges relating to RM42m involving SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary
1 abuse of power charge3 criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges3 money laundering chargesClick to view information on judge, prosecution and defence teamCourt adjourned to Thursday as defence counsel falls sick9.30am - The hearing starts with the defence team making a verbal application to vacate today's date
Defence lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed tells the court that his co-counsel Harvinderjit Singh, who was supposed to continue with the cross-examination on former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu, is ill
He also says lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (photo) is occupied with a trial before another High Court judge retiring at the end of July, and thus needs all the cases before him to be disposed of by then
"On that basis, we humbly seek Yang Arif's indulgence for today’s date to be vacated and we can go on with the trial tomorrow," says Wan Aizuddin
Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali then queries the defence on whether they have any other lawyers who can take up the cross-examination of the witness
Wan Aizuddin tells the court that lawyer Farhan Read has also been absent due to illness since yesterday, and that there was no instruction for the other members of the team to do so
This met with no objection from the prosecution, with deputy public prosecutor V Sithambaram telling the court that they do not want to be unreasonable when a counsel has fallen sick
According to Sithambaram, Harvinderjit contacted him at about 6.30am this morning to say that he was unwell
He also apologises to the court as the prosecution's other witnesses are not ready to be called in to testify
"But if the court wants to be cautious, we ought to replace (today's hearing) on Aug 9 as replacement date," he says
The judge then allows the application to vacate today's hearing, and orders the court to be adjourned until 9am tomorrow
Nazlan (photo) also says that should the defence lawyers be unwell tomorrow, arrangements must be made to either have cross-examination continued by any other member of the defence, or for the prosecution to bring in another witness
9.23am - Najib steps into the dock as proceedings begin
9.06am -  Accused Najib Abdul Razak enters the court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery
Key prosecution witness Joanna Yu is set to take the stand for the third day in the trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd
With proceedings before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali entering its 43rd day, Yu, a former AmBank relationship manager, will be grilled further by defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh
Based on the cross-examination over the past two days, the defence may probe Yu over her communications with fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho, her dealings with then-SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, and the extent of her role in the monetary trail involving Najib's AmBank accounts. - Mkini

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