KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Members of the public attending former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial should not be laughing during court proceedings, the trial judge reminded today.
Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, now a Court of Appeal judge continuing to hear the case in the High Court, briefly interjected today to give a stern reminder on how the public should behave while attending court proceedings.
“Tan Sri, just a minute before you go on. I can appreciate that members of the public sometimes find the proceedings a bit humorous, but I just want to issue a reminder, this is a court of law, it's not some comedy sketch.
“So to observe court protocol, please refrain from laughing out loud. Because if I decide to take action, I don't think it will be a laughing matter,” the judge said, having asked Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to pause before giving the reminder.
It is unsure what prompted the warning.
Shafee was cross-examining the 46th prosecution witness in Najib's 1MDB trial, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz when the judge made the reminder.
After the reminder, the trial then continued with Shafee cross-examining Zeti.
Open court proceedings are where members of the public are allowed to attend.
According to the Malaysian judiciary's website, those who attend open court proceedings are required to observe court etiquette such as dressing appropriately, to rise and bow before the judge enters and leaves the courtroom, and to bow every time while entering or leaving the courtroom during ongoing court proceedings.
During court proceedings before the judge, the public is also required to be silent and to give their full attention, and are not allowed to make any recordings — either audio or visual recordings, the website states.
Najib's 1MDB trial resumes in the afternoon, with Shafee expected to resume cross-examining Zeti.
