KUALA LUMPUR: The police had wrongfully trespassed into lawyer Siti Kasim’s house in a raid conducted in June 2018, rules the High Court.
Judicial Commissioner Arziah Mohamed Apandi awarded RM274,375 in damages to Siti and her client over the unlawful raid at her house as well as the lawyer’s subsequent wrongful imprisonment two days after the raid.
JC Arziah said the police raid on Siti’s home on June 21, 2018, was conducted without any intent to first contact the occupants.
Calling the facts “undisputed”, she said that one of the police officers involved admitted to not reading the police report in the case before the raid was conducted.
“Any entry onto private premises without consent of any legal authority constitutes trespass,” she said.
In another incident two days later, Siti was arrested while performing her professional duties despite the police having no basis to detain her, JC Arziah said.
“The defendants’ conduct demonstrates reckless indifference to the plaintiff’s constitutional rights,” she said in her judgment yesterday.
Siti, whose full name is Siti Zabedah Kasim, 62, and Anis Nur Izzatty Ruslan, 31, filed the lawsuit on Jan 29, 2021, naming 30 defendants, including 22 police officers involved in the incident.
Other defendants included former Selangor Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Fadzil Ahmat, former Kajang Hospital director Dr Md Fikri Abu Bakar, Kajang Hospital, the Inspector-General of Police, the Home Minister, the Health Minister, and the government.
The court ordered the government to pay RM120,625 in general damages to Siti and RM53,750 to Anis.
Both plaintiffs were also awarded joint exemplary damages of RM100,000 and RM50,000 in costs.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs said that Anis, who had sought help and refuge at Siti’s home over family issues, had stayed at Siti’s home on June 21, 2018, as the lawyer was away at a conference.
According to court documents, nine policemen in plain clothes (all named in the lawsuit), had entered Siti’s home by breaking her grille and main door.
The plaintiffs claimed that the police had unlawfully taken Anis, who hid in the bathroom, to the Kajang police headquarters.
The police applied for a remand but it was rejected by the Magistrate.
On Jan 29, 2021, Siti and Anis filed a civil suit over the incidents.
