1MDB trial postponed after Najib admitted for diarrhoea

The trial of Najib Razak on the embezzlement of 1MDB funds has been postponed and will resume tomorrow after the former prime minister was reported to have suffered from severe diarrhoea and had to be referred to specialists at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Appeal court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, appearing as a High Court judge, made the decision after the Kajang Prison health clinic medical officer Dr Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hoshni provided an explanation of Najib’s health condition at yesterday's proceedings.

Hafiz, who was questioned by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, said he was informed by the assistant medical officer at 7.15am that Najib had complained about being unwell and was suffering from diarrhoea.

"When I met Najib, he complained of stomach pain and nausea in addition to having diarrhoea. Even after being given medication, his condition did not improve after 10 minutes and further checks found he was dehydrated and was feverish, having a temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius.

"I then referred him to a specialist in Hospital Kuala Lumpur and he was taken there at 9.30am. At that time, he was tired and dehydrated," he said.

The specialist then gave Najib medical leave of two days and confirmed that he was unwell to attend the trial in court as he was not able to stand or sit for long periods and needed to be on a drip, he said.

When answering a question by Najib’s counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Hafiz said Najib was found to have been having diarrhea since May 8 and was referred to get better treatment.

Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes of RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.