MACC officers not negligent in Sarbaini case, says court

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ruled that the Malaysian Anti-Corrup­tion Commission officers were not negligent in the case of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed, the Selangor Customs Department assistant director who was found dead while in their custody in 2011.

It also held that the MACC officers did not commit any misfeasance of public office (intentional misuse of public power).

Upon hearing the decision, Sarbaini’s widow Masiah @ Maziah Manap (pic), 54, had tears in her eyes.

“I don’t know what to say. I hope you understand my situation,” said Masiah, who was being consoled by her family when approached.

Masiah, a supervisor at Petronas Dagangan Bhd, testified on Nov 10 last year that her family decided to sue MACC and eight others to find out the reason for Sarbaini’s death.

High Court judge Justice Kama­ludin Md Said said yesterday it was difficult for him to link the MACC officers and the Govern­ment over Sarbaini’s death unless there were any doubtful injury marks on the body.

He said the statement that Sarbaini’s death was a result of negligence because he was being “investigated” at the third floor instead of the lower floors of the MACC building was not justified and speculative.

Justice Kamaludin said the post-mortem report and findings of the inquest in the case were not challenged, where his cause of death was stated as “severe head injury and positional asphyxia” due to a fall from the third floor of the MACC building.

He said the evidence given by witnesses in the trial was consistent with a fall from the building.

“It is clear that there was no criminal act committed against the deceased before he fell. The fact that the deceased was under the care or detention of the defendants is not enough to blame them over his death for claim of damages,” said Justice Kamaludin.

“Although I understand the feelings of his wife and sympathise with her and his family members, in terms of law and evidence, I find that his wife has no basis to say that the death was the result of the conduct of the defendants,” he said.

He dismissed the suit with RM10,000 in costs.

In the suit filed on April 4 last year, Masiah and her son Shahril, 31, sought more than RM8mil in damages.

Sarbaini, 56, who was with the Port Klang Customs office, was found dead at the badminton court on the first floor of the MACC building in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6, 2011.

He was reported to have gone to the commission’s office to meet the investigation officer assigned to corruption cases involving 62 Customs officers.

Masiah and her son named the Government, MACC, its chief commissioner and six officers involved in Sarbaini’s arrest and interrogation as defendants.

The Coroners Court on Sept 26, 2011 delivered a verdict of misadventure and ruled that there were no elements of suicide, homicide or third-party involvement in Sarbaini’s death.