KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — The High Court today agreed to postpone Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial as the former prime minister is currently still undergoing his voluntary 14-day quarantine for Covid-19 at home following his return from Sabah on September 27.

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah decided to allow the request by Najib’s lawyers to have their client’s trial deferred for this week.

"I suppose in light of the current situation, it’s a bit of a risk. Of course, it could be much ado about nothing, but at the same time, for example, on the 13th day, symptoms can manifest.

"I suppose, in light of the circumstances, I accede to the request. So the trial is vacated Monday to Thursday,” the judge said after hearing both the prosecution and Najib’s lawyer on the matter, requesting both sides however to find other days to replace the four trial days this week and make up for lost time.

Najib’s 1MDB trial — in relation to more than RM2 billion of 1MDB funds — was previously scheduled to resume today until this Thursday (October 8).

His 1MDB trial will instead resume on October 19, which is also a previously scheduled hearing date.

Earlier today, Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed the judge that his client along with other politicians and ministers were caught by what he described as the "Sabah factor” — the breakout of Covid-19 cases in increasing numbers in Sabah amid the state election — where they were exposed to persons that were found to be Covid-19 positive.

Najib — who is former Umno president and a former Barisan Nasional chairman — was in Sabah last month to assist in Barisan Nasional’s election campaign.

"Now, Yang Arif, in the election campaign, the question of social distancing as well as wearing of the masks no doubt was adhered to as much as they could, but Yang Arif can appreciate in such circumstances it’s quite impossible to do 100 per cent adherence.

"So when I asked my client whether he was exposed to any person whom he knew was tested positive, he said yes, but he doesn’t know to what extent he could have been near,” he told the court, without naming the individuals whom Najib was said to have been exposed to.

The campaign period for the Sabah election was from September 12 to September 25, while voting day was on September 26.

Shafee said that Najib had "taken the responsible way of testing himself on September 27 in Sabah before taking the flight” back to Peninsular Malaysia, adding that Najib’s Covid-19 antigen test results at Sabah’s Pantai Hospital had returned negative.

While Najib had tested negative for Covid-19 via an antigen test in Sabah, Shafee said that his client was guided by what senior minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said on Instagram regarding the applicable Covid-19 procedures for those who had returned from Sabah.

In the social media post, Ismail Sabri had explained that the 14-day quarantine period is not imposed on those who return to other states from Sabah as it is considered to be interstate just like for those who had returned from Kedah, with those who had tested negative able to be immediately released from quarantine instead of serving out the usual 14-day period.

Shafee then cited the last line in Ismail Sabri’s Instagram post, where the minister had said that it is however mandatory to undergo quarantine for 14 days despite negative test results if the returnee from Sabah had had close contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19. 

"So this quarantine is self-imposed quarantine in the respective house. My client has been imposing himself over there, quarantining in his own residence,” Shafee said.

Shafee added that Najib had went for an immune boosting programme prior to his visit to Sabah, and had on October 3 sought another round of immune boosting treatment from a Bangsar-based clinic’s doctor who then advised for a 14-day quarantine.

"And he was advised to continue two weeks’ quarantine at least two weeks from arrival. He arrived September 27, so he can start attending normal programmes from October 13 (Tuesday), because of the history of contact and exposure,” he said, referring to September 28 to October 12 as the 14-day period.

Shafee said that the doctor had asked Najib not to go to his clinic but had visited Najib’s house fully decked in personal protective equipment instead.

Shafee also noted that a minister — which he did not name — was heavily criticised for not adhering to the 14-day quarantine period upon return from Sabah, adding: "My client does not want to be in that position. We have informed the learned deputy public prosecutors and the court. We thought this is a suitable matter for Yang Arif to exercise good discretion so that we are protected and he can begin normal attendance from October 13 onwards.”

When asked by the judge, Shafee confirmed that Najib had not been served with a home surveillance order (HSO) from the Health Ministry — which is an official order for a 14-day quarantine.

"This is being managed by the Ministry of Health, only in specific situations they issue the letter. In the case of Datuk Seri Najib, he is being given direction, general direction through minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri,” Shafee said, noting that he had sought for a letter for Najib’s quarantine from the minister who declined as he does not issue such letters and to avoid the perception of "special treatment” to Najib.

When asked by the judge if Najib had went for a second confirmatory Covid-19 test with results available within 24 hours after his first test in Sabah returned negative, Shafee said that Najib had not taken such a test but will go for one after the 14-day quarantine.

Shafee maintained however that Najib still has to fulfill the 14-day quarantine period despite a lack of HSO by the Health Ministry, stating: "He is caught by the 14 days, the minute the antigen test is done, he is caught by 14 days if there’s an exposure. Because he was exposed to people who were positive, this is not secondary exposure, it’s primary exposure.” 

Shafee said that Najib’s legal team has also yet to meet him since his return from Sabah due to the quarantine.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam informed the court that his instructions was to leave the matter for the judge to decide, with the judge then deciding to take off the trial dates for Najib’s 1MDB case this week.

Previously, Najib had on his official Facebook page said on September 27 that he had carried out a Covid-19 test and that he did not display any symptoms, before saying on September 29 that his test result was negative but that he would be quarantining himself at home as the incubation period for the Covid-19 virus is 14 days.

On October 2, Najib had on Facebook said that he had chosen to self-quarantine for 14 days despite the Health Ministry’s quarantine order on him being only for three days with the condition that he tests negative, again citing the 14-day virus incubation period.

Previously, two senior Umno leaders had tested positive for Covid-19 after campaigning in Sabah for the state elections — Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii and Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan with such test results known around September 21 and September 23 respectively. Barisan Nasional’s Pitas candidate Sufian Abd Karim had also on September 26 said he had tested positive for Covid-19.

This is the second high-profile criminal trial that had to be postponed as the accused has to undergo quarantine for Covid-19 upon return from campaigning in the Sabah elections, with Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s trial also deferred last week for this reason.

The week before that, Zahid’s trial was also postponed due to the need to wait for his second Covid-19 test results via the more accurate RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) test, following a negative test result via a rapid test.