KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s trial over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal will give way for the second time this month to his separate trial over ex-1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million funds, as the SRC trial is coming to its tail end.

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is hearing the 1MDB trial, however said that he would only be giving way to the SRC trial for one day only.

Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah this morning informed Sequerah that the SRC trial would be expected to continue on until tomorrow only, but also gave the additional caveat that it would not go beyond this week.

“Yang Arif, the SRC matter is going on today and is expected to go on as its last day tomorrow. It is expected under some surprises, but it will never go beyond. It is for sure, SRC will not go beyond this week,” Shafee told the High Court.

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“It won’t go beyond Thursday, I can assure Yang Arif because of this, because most of the witnesses we call, some of them are from MACC themselves... we can’t control in terms of understanding, content. Sometimes they do tell us surprising names we should call. Barring that, I expect to close the case tomorrow,” he added.

Datuk V. Sithambaram, who is leading the SRC case’s prosecution, confirmed to Sequerah that the same had been communicated to the SRC trial judge.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, who is part of the 1MDB trial’s prosecution team, said some of the prosecution team would be involved in the ongoing bribery trial of Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor that will run from yesterday until Thursday.

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Ahmad Akram requested for the 1MDB trial to start either next week or this Friday, instead of on the previously scheduled trial days of today (Tuesday) until Friday.

But Sequerah noted that he had previously said that the prosecution would have to make its own arrangement for its own team for Rosmah’s case and that he was not deferring the 1MDB trial for the Rosmah trial, saying: “So I’m only giving way to SRC, not to any other case.”

Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, lead prosecutor in both Najib’s 1MDB trial and Rosmah’s bribery trial, said last week he would be making arrangements to hand over prosecution matters in the Rosmah case.

Shafee similarly backed such a request for the 1MDB trial to start by Friday at the earliest to allow for Najib’s legal team to recover after the SRC trial, saying: “We need 24 hours to recover so we can prepare for equally if not bigger cases because of the factual matrix. If Yang Arif can give us the whole of Thursday for us to get our tackle together, we can start 9 o’clock Friday first thing.”

In response to Shafee, Sequerah made it clear that he was only giving way in the 1MDB trial for one day as the SRC trial was confirmed to be going on today.

“In fact, I’m only vacating today as it stands so tomorrow, depending on how SRC goes, if SRC closes, I will continue,” he said, making it clear that the 1MDB trial would begin tomorrow if the SRC trial ends earlier than expected.

Last Monday, High Court judge Sequerah had vacated the whole week previously scheduled for Najib’s 1MDB trial in order to give way to the SRC trial that was being conducted the whole week, and had fixed today for continuation of the 1MDB trial.

For the 1MDB trial, the High Court had previously fixed trial dates from March 10 (today) 13, 19 to 20, 23 to 27 and 30 to 31 inclusive of Friday, the entire month of April, May 4 to 8, 11 to 15 and 18 to 22 inclusive of Fridays, as well as June until October inclusive of Fridays.

On trial dates that fall on Fridays when Muslims must perform mandatory prayers, Sequerah had previously said proceedings would be adjourned earlier at noon.

Najib’s 1MDB case related to over RM2 billion of 1MDB funds involves 25 charges, namely four counts of power abuse and 21 counts of money laundering.

After the proceedings before Sequerah ended, Najib left for a separate courtroom in the Kuala Lumpur court complex for his SRC trial that is heard before High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

A total of 15 defence witnesses including Najib have testified so far in the SRC trial, with only two more defence witnesses expected to testify – former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad and Najib’s former aide Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh.