KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has instructed the prosecution to call the doctor who issued a medical chit (MC) to a star witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's corruption trial for misappropriating funds belonging to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah wants the doctor to explain the discrepancy in the MC from Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer Nur Aida Arifin.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib informed the court that the witness who was the investigating officer of the case, is unfit to testify today and has been granted a two-day medical leave by the doctor.
Sequerah then asked the prosecution to produce the MC as he wanted to review the wording on the document.
Akram: There are two versions of the MC. The first one stated 'this MC is not valid for absence in court proceedings' and the latest one had discarded the wording.
Sequerah: I want the doctor to come here and explain... call him (the doctor) and tell him I want to see him now.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then got up and told Sequerah that he had confirmed with MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki who is also Nur Aida's husband, that she was indeed ill.
Shafee: I by coincidence had a matter with Azam relating to something else and was on the line with him. Azam said his wife has a fever and it is contagious.
Sequerah: I understand. I just want the doctor to explain the discrepancy in the MC. We will stand down until the doctor comes.
Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.