KUALA LUMPUR – The high court today has set December 7 to decide on an application by the government to strike out a suit filed by the mother of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit, whose nude body was found on the balcony of the sixth floor of a condominium five years ago.
Judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain fixed the date after hearing submissions by senior federal counsel Mohd Azhar Hamzah, representing the government, and lawyer Datuk S. N. Nair, acting for Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen.
Verstappen had filed a suit against the inspector-general of police, Dang Wangi investigating officer Faizal Abdullah, the Home Minister and the Malaysian government for alleged breach of statutory duties and negligence in the investigation to determine the cause of her daughter’s death.
Earlier, Azhar submitted that the suit should be struck out because the police were still investigating into the model's death.
“My Lady, the police did not close the case. There has been no closure in this case yet... the investigation is in progress. Arrest had been made, but there was no strong evidence to charge,” he said.
Nair countered, saying that the striking out application was clearly an afterthought following the suit’s reinstatement via the Court of Appeal’s decision this year.
He said the suit did not prejudice the authorities, as the law required the deceased person's family to file a suit within three years from the day the person died.
Verstappen, 57, filed the suit on November 20, 2020.
On April 21, 2021, the high court struck out Verstappen’s suit on grounds that the statement of claim did not comply with Order 18, Rule 7 of Rules of Court 2012 and upon an appeal, the Court of Appeal reinstated the suit.
In the suit, she claimed that her 18-year-old daughter was found dead on the sixth floor of CapSquare Residence here on December 7, 2017, after falling from the 20th floor of a condominium unit owned by American couple Alex Johnson and Luna Almazkyzy.
She contended that the police had committed negligence when they failed to cordon off the crime scene or conduct a proper investigation against Johnson and Almazkyzy and failed to detain, extradite and secure the duo’s attendance during the inquest as the key witnesses.
On March 18, 2019 the coroner’s court ruled that Ivana’s death was caused by a “misadventure”.
Not satisfied with the coroner’s verdict, Verstappen appealed to the Kuala Lumpur High Court and on November 22, 2019, judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah set aside the coroner’s verdict and replaced it with a verdict of “death by person or persons unknown” and ordered the attorney-general to direct the police to begin further investigations. – Bernama, November 4, 2022
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