Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah after a short recess that Najib had complained to an accompanying prison doctor, Dr Hafiz Hozni, about his health.
Hafiz was then called by the judge to take the stand and provide an explanation.
The doctor said that during the break, Najib, 70, complained that he was having diarrhoea and had gone to the toilet three times.
“I have examined him and given him some medication. He is dehydrated and suffering from fatigue,” he told the judge, adding that Najib would be unfit to attend trial the rest of the day as the medicine prescribed would make him drowsy.
Hafiz then suggested that Najib be exempted from attending the hearing tomorrow, to allow him time to recover.
However, Sequerah rejected the suggestion and said the trial must go on.
“I am only allowing the trial to be cut short today. He needs to be in court tomorrow,” he said.
Sequerah also ordered the prosecution to stand by with another witness should former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo complete her testimony tomorrow.
Najib is facing 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds in his AmBank accounts.
Earlier, lawyer Shafee Abdullah accused Loo, who is still being cross-examined, of calling Najib a “monster”.
Loo said 1MDB’s board of directors had “blindly” followed whatever Najib approved, citing Article 117 of the company’s constitution.
Article 117 states that the prime minister has the final say on amending the constitution, making appointments, and dismissing 1MDB’s directors and top management.
It also states that any investment, financial or structuring decision involving the company’s interests that is closely related to national interests, security and government policy must obtain written approval from the prime minister.
As finance minister, Najib was the sole shareholder of 1MDB, parked under the Minister of Finance Incorporated.
Shafee: Are you trying to say that the directors did not use their minds and blindly followed Najib in whatever decision he made?
Loo: Article 117 requires the approval of the prime minister for substantial transactions.
Shafee: My client, (then) the minister of finance, did it according to the law. He approved matters as stated in Article 117 as the sole shareholder. So where is the inconsistency? Where is the article that gave the prime minister the power to be a “monster” to slaughter the poor directors like lambs?
Loo: Although it doesn’t say specifically, in substance it is the same person. The shareholder and the prime minister were the same person.