THE Attorney General’s Chambers is awaiting the court's scheduling of a case management date following the federal government’s appeal against a High Court ruling that found the police and government liable for negligence in the investigation into the death of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit.
Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar confirmed that a case management date has yet to be set after the government filed its notice of appeal on 18 August.
“The next steps require a management date, mention, and other procedural matters. For now, we are awaiting further developments from the court.
“Once a date is fixed, we will inform accordingly,” he said during a press conference following the handover ceremony for the Public Infrastructure under the Attorney General’s Chambers Madani Village Adoption Programme 2025 in Kampung Padang Tembak, in Kota Bharu on Saturday.
In May, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the government to pay RM1.1 million in damages to Smit’s mother, Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen, after finding investigative failures in the model’s death.
Ivana Smit’s body was found on the sixth-floor balcony of a condominium in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.
Verstappen later filed a civil suit against the Inspector-General of Police, the investigating officer ASP Faizal Abdullah, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the Government of Malaysia, alleging statutory breach of duty and negligence in the handling of the investigation.
In her ruling, Judge Roz Mawar Rozain awarded RM500,000 in general damages, RM300,000 in aggravated damages, and RM300,000 in exemplary damages. - Sept 6, 2025
