His lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who read his client’s witness statement, said preparations only began after Najib was called to enter his defence on Nov 11.

He said the court had already fixed the continuation of trial for 10 days from today this month when the prosecution closed its case on Aug 27.

Given that Najib’s personal liberty was at stake, he said, due process and the fundamental liberties guaranteed in the Federal Constitution would have merited a reasonable period and opportunity for him to mount an effective defence.

“We indicated that contingencies might arise which might necessitate an adjournment,” he added.

He said past practice would have allowed several months of adjournment since Najib had elected to give sworn testimony and given the need to identify and interview potential defence witnesses.

“With the greatest respect, we would be failing in our duty to our client and as officers of the court if we did not state that the resultant time has been inadequate to undertake all necessary action.”

He added that the defence had spent five days from Nov 11 preparing to persuade the court that the prosecution should supply all witness statements in the present case.

On Nov 15, however, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali dismissed the application on grounds that the statements under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act are privileged and not subject to disclosure at any stage of the trial.

Shafee said the lack of preparation was compounded as Najib had to attend the trial on the 1MDB audit report for six days ending Nov 28.

Apart from Najib, he added, the defence was now unsure which witnesses it should call to testify.

Najib is accused of abusing his power as prime minister by giving government guarantees on SRC International’s RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc.

He is also charged with three counts of money laundering and three counts of criminal breach of trust in the transfer of RM42 million to his accounts from the former 1MDB unit.