JB High Court grants custodial death victim's family almost half a million ringgit in damages

JOHOR BARU: The High Court here has granted the family of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur RM448,000 in damages, excluding interest, for his 2014 death in police custody at the Sungai Renggit police station.

The award covered court costs, dependency claims, misfeasance in public office, exemplary, bereavement, funeral, and special damages.

High Court Judge Datuk See Mee Chun made the order here on Thursday (Dec 19) after examining all of the evidence and stated that Syed Mohd Azlan was a victim of arbitrary and unconstitutional acts of the respondents, the police.

"The court will be remiss if it did not take this opportunity to remind the police of their duty to uphold the law and safeguard the peace and security of the nation and that all action towards that must be in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the law," she said during the proceedings at the Johor Baru High Court at Menara Cyberport here.

See also quoted the 2008 Hassan Marsom case involving custodial assault and police brutality against a man who was a suspect in a crime.

She said that an award of damages must reflect the sense of public outrage, emphasise the importance of constitutional rights, the gravity of the breach and deter future breaches.

The plaintiffs were represented by M. Visvanathan, while senior federal counsel Jailani Abdul Rahman acted on behalf of the government.

The 25-year-old welder from Pengerang, Syed Mohd Azlan, was arrested by police at his house back on Nov 3,2014, and died about five hours later while in police custody.

A post-mortem revealed that Syed Mohd Azlan died of blunt force trauma to the chest around 7.30am.