Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed the date for his decision whether to convict or acquit Najib, even with his defence team yet to finish its closing submissions.
“I know it (the defence’s submissions) will spill over to Nov 4, but I can state here and now that I will deliver my decision on Dec 26,” he said.
Sequerah made known the decision date as Najib’s lead counsel, Shafee Abdullah, sought permission to continue with oral arguments after Friday prayers.
Shafee had requested that proceedings be extended into the afternoon, after Friday prayers, but the judge declined the application.
“Is it on Boxing Day?” Shafee asked, seeking confirmation.
Sequerah replied in the affirmative.
He then fixed Nov 4 for Shafee to wrap up his submissions.
A total of 50 witnesses testified during the prosecution’s case, which went on for 253 hearing days between Aug 28, 2019 to May 30 last year.
On Oct 30 last year, Sequerah ordered Najib to enter his defence, after ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case.
The defence began its case on Dec 2, with Najib giving his testimony from the witness stand.
The parties took 58 days to examine and cross-examine 25 defence witnesses, including former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, former inspector-general of police Fuzi Harun, and former 1MDB chairman Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin.
Oral submissions at the close of the defence case began on Oct 21 and have spanned 10 hearing days. The proceedings were originally scheduled to complete today.
In his submissions, Shafee called for Najib to be acquitted of all charges, saying the defence had created doubt in the prosecution’s case.
Najib is also represented by lawyers Tania Scivetti and Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin.
Deputy public prosecutors Kamal Baharin Omar, Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mustaffa P Kunyalam, T Deepa Nair and Nadia Izhar appeared for the prosecution.
The prosecution allege that Najib colluded with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, in a scheme to siphon millions from 1MDB. They described Low as Najib’s “mirror image”.
Najib’s defence is that he believed the funds which entered his personal bank accounts were donations from the Saudi royal family.
He maintains that he was unaware of any wrongdoing, accusing Low of conspiring with 1MDB’s board and senior management to inflict financial losses on the sovereign wealth fund without his knowledge.
Najib is standing trial on four charges of abuse of power and 21 for money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds allegedly deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.