Lawsuit: Govt, family mull mediation over Dutch model's death
The Malaysian government and Ivana Smit’s family may undergo mediation to settle a negligence lawsuit over the Dutch model’s death seven years ago.
The government’s representative, Mohd Khairulhazman Ghazali, told the civil court about the matter linked to Smit’s 2017 death from a Kuala Lumpur apartment fall.
The Malaysian government and Ivana Smit’s family may undergo mediation to settle a negligence lawsuit over the Dutch model’s death seven years ago.
The government’s representative, Mohd Khairulhazman Ghazali, told the civil court about the matter linked to Smit’s 2017 death from a Kuala Lumpur apartment fall.
“So we would like to propose mediation,” the federal counsel told Kuala Lumpur High Court judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain this morning.
The family’s counsel Sankara Nair then remarked that this was a “serious offer to mediate”, and indicated their willingness to participate.
Roz Mawar then reminded the government’s representative from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) that the suit has been ongoing for four years.
She reminded them that the matter is set for trial on Oct 14, with witnesses willing to come from overseas to testify.
“When you said you are willing to mediate, did you just decide this morning or has this been planned earlier?” Roz Mawar asked Khairulhazman.
The AGC representative then replied that his instruction was to convey the government’s proposal.
Khairulhazman added that the mediation would be conducted at the Mediation Centre at Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex from Sept 23 to 27.
Roz Mawar then set Sept 30 for case management of the family’s civil suit.
‘Sloppy’ investigation
Dutch citizen Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen is suing Malaysian authorities for allegedly bungling the probe into her 18-year-old daughter Smit’s death.
On Dec 7, 2017, Smit’s body was discovered on the balcony of a sixth-floor unit of CapSquare Residence in Kuala Lumpur, 14 floors below the 20th-floor unit of the couple Alexander William Johnson and Lunara Almazkyzy.
Since leaving Malaysia in early 2018, cryptocurrency trader Johnson and his wife Almazkyzy have given international media interviews in which they admitted to having had sexual relations with Smit before the incident but denied being responsible for her death.
The Smit family’s civil suit is directed against the allegedly sloppy and negligent investigation into the model’s death by the authorities.
The four defendants in the lawsuit are the home minister, the inspector-general of police, investigating officer Faizal Abdullah, and the federal government.
Possible homicide
The police initially categorised Smit’s case as sudden death.
Then on March 8, 2019, the Kuala Lumpur Coroner’s Court ruled the model’s death as a misadventure.
However, in November of the same year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court overturned the coroner’s judgment.
The High Court ruled that the possibility of death by homicide and the possibility that the death was caused by “persons known or unknown” to the victim had not been sufficiently investigated.’
Following the High Court’s judgment, the police announced that a new task force would be formed to reopen the investigation into the case.
In November 2020, Verstappen, 58, filed the civil suit to seek general, aggravated, and exemplary damages from the police and the government.
The family is seeking a writ of mandamus for the IGP, home minister, and/or the government to issue an arrest warrant and extradite Johnson and Almazkyzy to Malaysia for further questioning and possible prosecution.
