THE Kuala Lumpur High Court was told today that a key witness in Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial, former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, will not be able to take the stand tomorrow as she is on medical leave for two days.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Ahmad Akram Gharib informed judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the highly anticipated witness in the trial was on sick leave due to high fever, vertigo and vomiting.

“I received a text message from the investigating officer (IO) at 11.56am today informing that Tan Sri Zeti, whom I previously said would come tomorrow, had informed the IO, through her lawyer, that she is not well and is on medical leave for two days,” he said.

Akram also said he will provide the medical certificate to the court later.

The DPP informed the court that another witness who is staying and working in Singapore will only be able to take the stand early next month and that the prosecution had arranged for 42nd prosecution witness, former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, to be called in tomorrow for cross-examination.

Last month, the prosecution said it will be calling Zeti as a prosecution witness after Najib’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, posted a question against the 39th prosecution witness, former AmBank non-executive director Cheah Tek Kuang, 75, about the presence of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, at Zeti’s house.

The court today continued hearing submissions by Shafee where he said an audio recording of an alleged conversation between the former premier and a leader from the Middle East was not legally obtained under section 43 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act.

“The evidence in question relates to four audio recordings of telephone conversations as well as transcripts between Najib and several other prominent individuals, where section 43 applies,” he said.

“This has caused Datuk Seri Najib, apart from not knowing the identity of the individual who has authorised the interception of communication mandated under section 43, to be left in the dark and (in a) precarious position of not knowing the contents of the other recordings.”

Sequerah interjected, saying that the prosecution had not come forth and stated how the recording was obtained.

Shafee said he would be surprised if the prosecution is willing to state the source explicitly as it will reveal the state of affairs in this country, in terms of special branch and wiretapping individuals.

“The person who recorded it must come here to identify the audio… but I don’t think he will ever come because it will be a confession because he was doing something that is not right,” he said.

In response to this, Akram said an IO from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will be called during the trial to identify the audio recording.

Earlier, Akram informed the court that lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram is also on medical leave for three days due to fever and an infection and the senior DPP will be replying to Shafee’s submission regarding the audio recording on another day.

The trial before Sequerah continues tomorrow.

Najib, 69, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. – Bernama, November 23, 2022.