Najib's 1MDB trial postponed as his lawyers can't contact witness; prosecution can't find him too

Najib's 1MDB trial postponed as his lawyers can't contact witness; prosecution can't find him too



Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial has been postponed today. — Bernama pic

Thursday, 20 Feb 2025 4:07 PM MYT


PUTRAJAYA, Feb 20 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial has been postponed today, as his lawyers are unable to get in touch with local law firm Wong & Partners’ former partner Brian Chia Hock Gee to get him to come to court as a defence witness.

The 1MDB trial was initially scheduled to continue this afternoon, but Najib’s lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin said Chia was the next defence witness that his client wanted to call in.

But Wan Azwan Aiman said Najib’s lawyers have been unable to contact Chia, and the prosecution could not find him.

“Since January, we have attempted to call Brian Chia, but to no avail.

“Since he is an offered witness, we have also sought the help of our learned friends in the prosecution, to which I was also informed also to date they have not been able to locate him or get a hold of him,” he said.

Apart from trying to call Chia, Wan Azwan Aiman said Najib’s lawyers have also spoken to other lawyers in Malaysia and do not know where he is at the moment.

“I’m afraid because he is the only witness slotted for this session this afternoon, the defence would humbly seek for adjournment until tomorrow morning. We deeply regret this matter,” he said.

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah then asked if Najib’s lawyers still intend to have Chia appear as a defence witness in the 1MDB trial, if the latter cannot be found.

Wan Azwan Aiman then said the prosecution should try to help get Chia to appear in court since the prosecution had previously offered him as a defence witness to Najib.

“We will proceed with other witnesses, but as far as Brian Chia Hock Gee is concerned, the fact he is offered witness, I think it’s incumbent on prosecution to seek best endeavour to have him available to us to be examined in court,” he said.

Asked by the trial judge if the prosecution can help in getting Chia to be present in court, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar said: “Yes, because he is offered witness, we try our best, full endeavour to locate Brian Chia to assist the case.”

Kamal Baharin said the prosecution would need to provide Chia’s witness statement to Najib’s lawyers if Chia is unable to be found, but said the prosecution will try its best to find him.

Previously, Chia was on the prosecution’s witness list for the 1MDB trial and his written witness statement had been prepared, but he was not called to testify in court as a prosecution witness.

Later, Wan Azwan Aiman also said Najib’s lawyers’ assume that Chia is currently not in Malaysia: “To the best of our assumption, he is not within jurisdiction, that’s because we attempt to contact him, but we can’t seek confirmation of this fact because we don’t have access to relevant agencies.”

The judge said the prosecution could perhaps help to check if Chia is within Malaysia.

Based on Malay Mail’s check of the Malaysian Bar’s online legal directory, Chia is currently not listed as a practising lawyer in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territories. The law firm Wong & Partners is located in Kuala Lumpur.

Since there were no other defence witnesses lined up by Najib’s lawyers for today, the trial judge then adjourned the 1MDB trial to tomorrow.

Following an application by Wan Azwan Aiman, the trial judge also extended the subpoena for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s investigating officer for the 1MDB case, Mohd Nasharudin Amir, to have him be present in court tomorrow as a defence witness.

Wan Azwan Aiman said Nasharudin was present in court on February 13 based on the subpoena issued to him, but that this witness had said he would not come to court tomorrow unless the subpoena was extended to tomorrow as well.

Witnesses in court can either be those who appear voluntarily, or those who are issued a subpoena to compel them to come to court to testify.

So far, Najib’s lawyers have called in nine defence witnesses to testify, with eight including Najib having completed their testimony in court.