KUALA LUMPUR: A war of words between Datuk Seri Najib Razak's defence team and the prosecution continued to intensify today prompting the court to diffuse the situation.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, all this while, argued that prosecution's star witness – Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer Nur Aida Arifin's testimony was hearsay as she had drawn various conclusions about the case.
However, lead prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib countered that the witness who was the investigating officer of the case was merely testifying on the findings of her probe.
Shafee, who was still dissatisfied with Nur Aida's statement, kept on objecting whenever the 49th prosecution witness finished reading each paragraph of her 95-page statement.
Presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who was not amused with the situation, stated that the proceedings cannot continue at this pace.
"Either we continue on this path, which will take forever, or I adjourn the trial and both parties come up with a statement they can live with... we cannot go on like this," he said.
Sequerah then adjourned the proceedings and asked the counsels to meet him in chambers.
Despite the drama, the proceedings continued without a hitch after the lunch break, with Nur Aida continuing to testify on the 1MDB's proposal to venture into the energy sector and invest in independent power producers (IPPs).
The witness said in May 2010, 1MDB former chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi sent a letter to Najib informing him of the company's proposal to venture into the energy sector and IPP.
She said fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low brought the idea of the proposed acquisition of Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd to Najib and informed Shahrol that the latter had 'positive feedback' about it.
This prompted Shafee to interject and object to the statement by stating that it was hearsay.
Akram, however, countered that the statement was based on Shahrol's testimony in court.
The court said that part of the witness's role as an investigating officer is to read Shahrol's testimony in court. The court records Shafee's objection.
Najib, 70, 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.
The trial continues.