KUALA LUMPUR: It was a heated exchange of words between the prosecution and the defence over a witness statement in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial here on Monday (Jan 8).

The trial continued with the 49th prosecution witness, Nur Aida Arifin, resuming her testimony by reading her 95-page witness statement.

Her testimony, however, was halted when Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, stood up to object on the grounds of hearsay.

He argued that the witness, a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer, had "drawn her own conclusions" in the case.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib responded that Nur Aida's testimony was merely based on the findings of her investigation as she was the investigating officer in the 1MDB probe.

Muhammad Shafee, however, still got on his feet to object to Nur Aida's statement numerous times.

This prompted High Court judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah to intervene.

He said the proceedings could not continue in such a manner.

“Either we continue on this path, which will take forever, or I adjourn the trial, and both parties come up with a statement they can live with... we cannot go on like this,” he said.

The proceedings were then adjourned for parties to meet the judge in chambers.

Najib, 70, is on trial for 25 charges, four for abuse of power that allegedly brought him the financial benefit to the tune of RM2.28bil and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money.

The hearing continues on Jan 24.

Najib Razak, 1MDB, Prosecution Witness Statement, MACC, Nur Aida Arifin, Trial, Shafee Abdullah