​Following the adjournment application made by the defendants on Tuesday, both Ramzidah binti Pehin Datu Kesuma Diraja (Retired) Colonel Hj Abdul Rahman and Hj Nabil Daraina bin Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Hj Awg Badaruddin appeared in High Court of Bandar Seri Begawan again earlier yesterday.

 The Honourable Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson once again adjourned the trial upon application by Mr Simon Farrell, QC, appearing with Sheikh Noordin Sheikh Mohammad for the defendants. The Defence sought for full access to all materials in the possession of the Prosecution, whether being relied on or unused by them. The defence also requested access into the Judiciary Case Management System (JCMS) and into the laptops that were seized from the Defendant on 8th January 2018.

 According to Mr Farrell, the Defence have gone through 30 bankruptcy files in the last two weeks. Some of the statements of the Prosecution witnesses have not been served to the Defence. It was submitted for the said reasons, the Defence is simply not ready to proceed with trial as they are unable to properly prepare their defence. He asked that the trial be put off for a few months after which they will be fully prepared to proceed. He undertook that this application for adjournment will be the final one the Defence makes.

 Mr Jonathan Caplan, QC, appearing for the Public Prosecutor, firmly opposed the application for adjournment. He informed the Court that the first request for access to the bankruptcy file was made on 4th February 2019 to which the Prosecution subsequently agreed. However, it was not until 1st March 2019 when the Defence started to inspect the files over a 4 days period. Further, the Defence's request to have access into Ramzidah's Surface Pro was only made known to the Prosecution on 4th March 2019 and on the following day, access was allowed. In relation to the witness statements, these witnesses will only be producing documents which have been served on the Defence. In fact, the Prosecution has served a total of 11 bundles of files comprising of documents which will be formally tendered through such witnesses. He further stated that the Prosecution is ready to proceed with trial and suggested that the case be approached in stages by first calling the Deputy Official Receivers and bank tellers of which statements have been given to the Defence.

 The Honourable Justice Gareth John Lugar-Mawson granted the Defence's application for adjournment and ordered for the Defence to be granted full access to all materials in the Prosecution's possession, including Prosecution Witness statements, copies of documents and exhibits. The Honourable Lugar-Mawson set the matter for further hearing on Monday, 18 March 2019 for a pre-trial review to be conducted.

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