KUALA LUMPUR: There was a tense verbal confrontation between the prosecution and the defense regarding a witness statement in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Jan 8).
The trial proceeded with the 49th prosecution witness, Nur Aida Arifin, resuming her testimony by reading her 95-page witness statement. However, Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, objected to her testimony on the grounds of hearsay, claiming that the witness, a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer, had “drawn her own conclusions” in the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib responded by stating that Nur Aida’s testimony was based purely on the findings of her investigation as she was the investigating officer in the 1MDB probe. Muhammad Shafee continued to object to Nur Aida’s statement multiple times, leading High Court judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah to intervene, saying that the proceedings could not continue in such a manner.
He expressed that the trial could not go on like this and suggested adjourning it for both parties to come up with a statement they could live with. The proceedings were then adjourned for parties to meet the judge in chambers.
Najib, 70, is facing 25 charges, four for abuse of power, allegedly bringing him a financial benefit of RM2.28bil, and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money. The trial is set to continue on Jan 24. 
