1MDB trial postponed as Najib seeks more rest after Covid-19 spell, Shafee's colleagues next infected by coronavirus

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak's trial over RM2.27 billion of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds has been postponed to tomorrow, as the former prime minister asked for rest after recently falling ill and as two lawyers in the law firm defending him have contracted Covid-19.

After Najib pleaded not guilty to three amended charges and before the 1MDB trial could resume, Najib's lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked for the hearing to be deferred to tomorrow for several reasons.

“One, I think Yang Arif is perhaps fully aware from the newspapers and other news that my client had contracted Covid recently and his last day of quarantine was on Friday.

“And Yang Arif, my client informed me this morning as was communicated to me yesterday, that he has not healed 100 per cent, and he requires today with Yang Arif's kind consideration for him to rest and perhaps start tomorrow morning. That's number one, Yang Arif,” Shafee said.

As for the second reason, Shafee said one of the lawyers in his law firm — Umi Nafesah Mohd Noor — who was in charge of handling all the documents in the 1MDB trial for the defence team was absent, as she had last night tested positive for Covid-19 after her mother's recent infection.

Shafee said Umi Nafesah had previously tested negative for three days and had sat with some of the lawyers in Najib's defence team, including himself, Tania Scivetti and Alaistair Brandah Norman in a discussion to prepare for cross-examination of witnesses in the 1MDB trial.

“So I'm taking a step to protect myself and others that by the end of this evening, we want to do a test and we will continue to do it even tomorrow whether we are positive or otherwise. Hopefully we are not,” he said, but noted that Umi Nafesah was wearing a mask throughout the meeting with the other lawyers on the 1MDB trial.

“We also have another lawyer by the name of Genevieve Bridie Vanniasingham who tested positive last Thursday, so she has kept herself away. But as Yang Arif can appreciate in a small firm like ours, we have been intermingling with her.... so we do not know whether any effect,” he said.

The prosecution did not object to the request made by Shafee to postpone the 1MDB trial to tomorrow morning.

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah then decided to vacate the 1MDB trial for the rest of the day and to have the trial resume tomorrow for the reasons given by Shafee.

Najib, who was wearing a suit and a tie, was not wearing a face mask during the court proceedings, while two of the prison guards present were seen wearing face masks during the court proceedings.

The judge was also wearing a face mask, while Shafee and his whole team of lawyers were also wearing face masks when the application to postpone the 1MDB trial was made.

Shafee said he and other lawyers in his firm will test themselves for Covid-19 tonight and tomorrow morning but asked the judge to vacate the trial for the rest of today and resume hearing only tomorrow morning.

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah agreed to Shafee’s request as the prosecution did not object.

Najib, in the dock, did not wear a face mask unlike the two prison guards who were keeping watch over him.

The judge was also wearing a face mask as was the rest of the defence team while Shafee made his application.

Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor who was present in the courtroom before the hearing began, was seen going maskless.

Should the hearing resume tomorrow, the defence is expected to continue cross-examining the 48th prosecution witness, Assistant Commissioner of Police Foo Wei Min.

Najib was taken to Hospital Kuala Lumpur from Kajang Prison last Tuesday after he developed a fever and was subsequently found positive for Covid-19.

His second swab test on November 3 returned negative and he was discharged and returned to prison, his special officer Muhamad Mukhlis Maghribi said yesterday.

This is not the first time that Covid-19 infections or Covid-19 scares have caused delays in Najib's 1MDB trial since it started on August 28, 2019.

On March 12, 2020, the entire defence team went into quarantine as a precaution after Shafee's sister-in-law became a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

The 1MDB trial was later paused due to Covid-19 lockdowns nationwide before eventually resuming in May 2020.

On October 5, 2020, Najib went into a two-week quarantine at home after returning home on September 27 from Sabah where he had been campaigning for the Barisan Nasional for the state election.

On February 18, 2021, a prosecution witness said he had met a friend who later tested positive for Covid-19.

Trial was deferred in early May 2021 as one of Najib's lawyers found out he was a close contact to Covid-19 patients while others in his defence team who were working closely with this person were also under voluntary self-quarantine.

On July 7, 2021, Shafee was quarantined as a close contact of a person who tested positive for Covid-19.

Trial paused for two days in December 2021 as both Najib and Shafee had the statuses in their MySejahtera app indicating that they were casual contacts.