KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak turned up late for his trial today because he had an unexpected visitor and “lost track of time”.
That was the excuse given by the former prime minister’s lawyer when Najib kept everyone waiting for his trial to resume after the lunch break.
However, High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was not amused after having to wait almost 20 minutes for the accused to show up.
He reminded Najib on the need to be on time when the latter finally showed up.
“Further tardiness will only delay proceedings and it is unfair to others who are punctual,” he said.
The proceedings were supposed to start at 2.20pm, but Najib only turned up in court at 2.40pm.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had earlier apologised to the judge and explained why his client was late.
“There was an unexpected visitor and he lost track of time,” he said.
Najib is facing three charges of criminal breach of trust, one for the abuse of power and three more for money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
The 66-year old Pekan member of parliament faces 20-years jail and fine for the offences.