Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah advised them to “keep things civil” as officers of the court, adding that they were at liberty to file applications seeking the appropriate relief from the court.

Sequerah’s remarks came after deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib complained that Najib’s lawyers had made certain comments about the ongoing case during a break in proceedings.

The judge reminded the defence team that Najib was still giving evidence and had yet to be cross-examined by the prosecution.

“Counsel (Shafee Abdullah) said they will be making an application to interview (former Goldman Sachs banker) Roger Ng.

“He even said he wants to see if we (the prosecution) will object. It amounts to pressuring us to act in a particular way failing which the public will be against us,” Akram said, adding that these remarks bordered on contempt.

Ng was sentenced by a New York court to 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of corruption last year.

However, he was repatriated to Malaysia to assist local authorities in their bid to recover 1MDB assets. Investigations by the police into the matter are still ongoing.

Shafee then challenged the prosecution to identify the alleged contemptuous conduct on the part of the defence team.

He said he was merely explaining that Ng might have evidence that may exonerate Najib. However, the lawyer said he will address the matter on another day.

Najib is standing trial on 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.

The hearing continues before Sequerah.