Trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah made the order this morning after the court was told that former 1MDB chief financial officer Azmi Tahir, who was to continue his testimony, was having a fever.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib said the prosecution had tried to call other witnesses, namely KPMG auditor Johan Idris, Najib’s former officer Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail, former 1MDB director Ismee Ismail and former company secretaries Lim Poh Seng and Goh Gaik Kim, to replace Azmi on the stand.

“However, Johan is in London and will only be available after Jan 29. Wan Shihab is having diarrhoea and Ismee is under quarantine,” he said.

“Poh Seng has his booster shot appointment today and Gaik Kim says she has to attend several meetings. I tried to ask her to cancel her meetings but she said they are important.”

Sequerah said he appreciated the prosecution’s attempt to call other witnesses at the 11th hour, adding that “it is not your fault”.

“I will stand down this proceeding until 2.30pm and do your best to get someone else. There are over 50 witnesses in the list. As of now, (the hearing for) the entire morning is gone,” he said.

Najib is facing 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.