Justice K Muniandy fixed the new date after lawyer Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib, informed the court that the defence was preoccupied with the former prime minister’s other cases.

Shafee specifically cited Najib’s ongoing 1MDB corruption trial and a civil lawsuit brought by SRC International.

“For the SRC International civil case, my client will give evidence (when the hearing resumes),” he added.

The case before Muniandy was originally scheduled to run from Sept 17 to 19 and Sept 23 to 24.

Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul told the judge that the prosecution had no objection to the defence’s application for postponement.

He also told the court that the prosecution had served all related trial documents and witness statements on the defence.

Ashrof said the attorney-general had yet to decide on Najib’s representations for a review of the three charges.

“As of now, it is status quo,” he added.

The three money laundering charges were the first to be framed against the former prime minister, having been drawn up in February 2019.

They were followed by a case involving seven charges for abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million in SRC International funds, which began on April 3, 2019.

On July 28, 2020, the High Court convicted Najib of all seven charges in the latter case. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed on Dec 8, 2021.

Najib is currently serving a reduced six-year prison term, with the Federal Court dismissing his final appeal on Aug 23, 2022.