Court skips lunch to allow Najib to deliver speech in Parliament, warns against repeat without advance notice.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be able to make it to Parliament today to deliver his speech there, as the High Court hearing his money-laundering and power abuse trial over 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds skipped lunch in order to hear the case and end proceedings earlier today.
High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah decided to sit through the customary lunch break, having read a letter received today from the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.
At around 1.06pm, the judge said that he had managed to view and digest the letter from the Speaker which he was not able to do earlier as he had been hearing the 1MDB trial since morning with only short breaks.
“What I’ve decided to do, if your client is supposed to be there at 3.30pm, I have decided to go on, continue without lunch break.
“I’ll stop at 3.15pm. Your client can proceed to Parliament, it’s just around the corner,” he said.
“I must put on record, there’s something on Takwim in Parliament. I don’t know what…it wasn’t informed earlier. I don’t want to waste time, I’ll proceed.
“Unless I’m informed well in advance on the next occasion, I will not be entertaining any more requests for similar adjournment,” he added.
Earlier, Najib’s lawyer Tania Scivetti appeared to indicate that her client would prefer not to rush, as he “needs to be in the right state of mind to make the speech”, but the judge later said he had made his decision.
The judge also highlighted that Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had not cited the same reason regarding the Parliament Takwim yesterday.
“Yesterday the letter, Tan Sri Shafee did not mention this as a reason for asking for adjournment, I was only informed (today). It came as a surprise to me. Anyway, I don’t want to debate about it and waste more time,” he said matter-of-factly, and asked for the trial to proceed.
Najib, as well as the witness being cross-examined, Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi were seen being called back after having left the courtroom earlier for the lunch break and were present in the courtroom when the judge announced his decision to sit through lunch.
At around 12.40pm, Najib’s defence lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed had before lunch break asked after a letter sent to the High Court on the requirement for Najib to attend Parliament this afternoon.
But at that point in time, the judge had said: “I haven’t had time to read, I was busy dealing with the trial. I leave it to officers. I don’t know what the contents are.
“This application was made yesterday. I’ve already made my decision,” he had said then, when referring to Najib’s failed bid yesterday to have the trial end earlier before 2pm to be able to go to Parliament. At that time, the court was scheduled to resume hearing of the trial at 2.15pm.
Yesterday, Shafee applied on his client’s behalf to have the 1MDB trial proceedings today go on from 9.30am and throughout the usual lunch period, so that Najib could deliver his speech in Parliament after 2pm.
But while acknowledging Najib has his duties to perform as a member of Parliament for the Pekan constituency, the judge yesterday also noted that he also had his duties to perform.
Noting the competing duties, the judge yesterday rejected Najib’s bid to have the trial go on for half a day, ruling instead that the trial would go on for the full day. – MMO
Earlier reports:
Jul 15, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 38
Jul 1, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 37
Jun 30, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 36
May 21, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 35
May 21, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 34
May 19, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 33
Nov 11, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 32
Nov 7, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 31
Nov 6, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 30
Nov 5, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 30
Nov 4, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 28
Nov 4, 1MDB Trial: Judge Reprimands Najib After Tg Piai Trip
Oct 31, Najib Calls in Sick with Swollen Eyes, 1MDB Trial Postponed Yet Again
Oct 30, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 27
Oct 29, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 26
Oct 24, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 25
Oct 24, Najib Asks Prosecution to Hand Over Justo’s Information Given to MACC
Oct 21, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 24
Oct 17, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 23
Oct 17, Jho Low Changed 1MDB Constitution to Give Najib Absolute Power
Oct 16, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 22
Oct 14, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 21
Oct 10, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 20
Oct 9, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 19
Oct 8, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 18
Oct 7, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 17
Oct 7, Some Umno People Envious of Jho Low-Najib Ties, Court Told
Oct 1, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 16
Oct 1, Arul Kanda Told Ex-1MDB CEO to Leave Country to Avoid PAC Meeting
Oct 1, Ex-1MDB CEO Paid RM99K Monthly, RM1.5M Bonus
Oct 1, Jho Low Helped Plan Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Trip to Sway Voters for GE13
Sept 30, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 15
Sept 30, Witness: Najib Used 1MDB to Raise Funds for GE13
Sept 26, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 14
Sept 26, Jho Low, Tim Leissner Played “Matchmaker” for Najib to Meet Goldman Sachs
Sept 26, US$9M Transferred from Jho Low’s Good Star to Riza Aziz’s Red Granite Pictures
Sept 26, Jho Low, Najib Faked Meeting Minutes to Move US$750M from 1MDB to PSI
Sept 26, Najib Agreed to 1MDB Borrowing RM3B from SOCSO to Lend to PetroSaudi
Sept 25, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 13
Sept 24, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 12
Sept 23, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 11
Sept 19, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day 10
Sept 18, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Nine
Sept 18, Najib’s Ex-Aide Led MACC to Raid on Jho Low’s Apartment
Sept 18, Najib’s 1MDB Trial Halted Briefly for Najib to See Eye Specialist
Sept 17, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Eight
Sept 17, Witness Identifies Riza Aziz, Arul Kanda and Five Others as Key Players in 1MDB Saga
Sept 17, Bono, Queen of Jordan, Rosmah Floated as Trustees for TIA
Sept 17, Witness Says 1MDB Najib’s Baby, Defence Claims It Was Terengganu Sultan’s Idea
Sept 11, Najib’s Eye Infection Halts 1MDB Trial
Sept 10, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Six
Sept 10, Rosmah Fond of Jho Low
Sept 10, Najib’s Ex-Aide: Jho Low Provided Scripted Responses to Deny His Involvement in 1MDB
Sept 10, Istana Negara Questioned Jho Low’s Role in 1MDB Predecessor TIA
Sept 5, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Five
Sept 5, 1MDB Trial: Judge Raps Shafee over Najib’s Tardiness
Sept 5, 1MDB Trial: Najib’s Ex-Aide Took US$200K Loan from Jho Low to Buy Property
Sept 5, 1MDB Trial: Najib’s Ex-Aide Accused of Lying
Sept 4, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Four
Sept 4, Najib’s Ex-Aide: Mudabala CEO Was Promised All Sorts of Things
Sept 4, Najib’s Ex-Aide, Jho Low on “Secret China Mission” to Bail Out 1MDB
Sept 4, Jho Low Ordered Najib’s Ex-Aides to Open Overseas Bank Accounts
Sept 3, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Three
Sept 3, Najib’s Ex-Aide: Jho Low Drew Out Wealth Fund Concept on Kitchen Whiteboard
Sept 3, Jho Low Gave Possibly Forged Letters from Saudi Arabia to Stop 1MDB Probe
Sept 3, Only Najib and Jho Low Knew “Full Picture” of 1MDB Plan
Sept 3, Jho Low in Najib’s Inner Circle
Aug 29, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day Two
Aug 28, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Day One
Aug 28, Shafee: Prove Najib Knew Arab Donation Letter Faked, Jho Low Is Najib’s Alter Ego
Aug 28, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Shafee Again Questions Sri Ram’s Appointment
Aug 28, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Gopal Sri Ram’s Full Opening Statement
Aug 28, Najib’s 1MDB Trial: Prosecution to Show Saudi Donations a Sham
Aug 28, Najib’s 1 MDB Trial: Prosecution to Prove Jho Low Was Najib’s Alter Ego
Aug 28, Najib’s 1MDB Trial Begins