KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has fixed Dec 7 to deliver its decision in an application by the government to strike out a lawsuit filed by the mother of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit, who died in a fall from a condominium five years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain set the date after hearing submissions from Senior Federal Counsel Mohd Azhar Hamzah, who appeared for the government, and lawyer Datuk SN Nair, who represented Smit's mother, Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen.
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Verstappen, 57, sued the Inspector-General of Police, Dang Wangi Investigating officer Asst Supt Faizal Abdullah, the Home Minister and the government for alleged breach of statutory duties and negligence in the investigation to determine the cause of her daughter’s death.
The nude body of Smit, 18, was found on Dec 7, 2017 on the sixth floor of CapSquare Residence in Kuala Lumpur, after she fell 14 floors from the 20th-storey unit belonging to American Alex Johnson and his Kazakh girlfriend Luna Almazkyzy.
Earlier, Mohd Azhar submitted to the court that the lawsuit should be struck out as the police were still investigating Smit's death.
He said the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder was still in progress and the case was still open.
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"An arrest had been made but there was no strong evidence to charge,” he said here on Friday (Nov 4).
He said the lawsuit would affect the investigation and public policy as well as prejudice the murder case.
Meanwhile, Nair told the court that the striking out application was an "afterthought" as his client's lawsuit was reinstated by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.
He said the lawsuit did not prejudice the authorities as the law required the family of the deceased person to file a suit within three years from the day the person died.
Verstappen filed the lawsuit on Nov 20, 2020.
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The lawsuit was struck out on April 21 last year by the High Court on the grounds that the statement of claim did not comply with Order 18, Rule 7 of Rules of Court 2012.
However, it was reinstated by the Court of Appeal after Verstappen filed an appeal.
In the suit, she claimed that 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 key witnesses.
On March 18, 2019 the Coroner’s Court ruled that Smit’s death was caused by "misadventure."
Dissatisfied with the coroner’s verdict, Verstappen appealed to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
On Nov 22, 2019, High Court judge Justice 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 police to investigate further.
