Najib's bid to skip trial and attend Parliament denied

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has denied Datuk Seri Najib Razak's request to skip a day in court to attend Parliament.

High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali refused the request after hearing an application from Najib's lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and counter arguments from Attorney General Tommy Thomas, who objected it.

Earlier, Shafee had applied for an adjournment after Najib's trial involving abuse of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds resumed for the day at 9.45am on Monday (July 1).

He said his client needed time out to attend the Parliament sitting, which resumed on Monday.

Shafee said Najib wanted to take part in the session, as an important bill concerning the declaration of assets for all MPs would be tabled.

"My client has been charged and is on trial, but he also has a duty to attend Parliament.

"He is not asking to be absent for the entire three weeks this case has been fixed. All he is asking is a reasonable request to attend today's session and also another session when the bill on lowering the eligible age of voters is tabled," he said.

Thomas said there was no reason for the court to grant the request, as Najib could attend Parliament after 5pm.

The trial, which had been postponed after the last hearing on June 20, has entered its 30th day with 40 prosecution witnesses called to the stand.