As the judge read out a verdict of guilty on all charges, former prime minister Najib Razak sat silently in the dock at the end of the first of five graft trials linked to scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB.

Najib offered no visible reaction. Masked against the coronavirus, wearing a brown suit with a red and black striped tie, he had recited a brief prayer, flanked by leaders of his political party, before he entered the dock.