Dutch model's death: M'sia seeks Interpol help to locate couple
Malaysian authorities have issued an Interpol Blue Notice to track down a foreign couple linked to the death of Dutch model Ivana Smit seven years ago.
The police issued the notice against crypto trader Alexander William Johnson and his wife Lunara Almazkyzy, whose apartment in Kuala Lumpur Smit (above) fell from in 2017.
A Blue Notice is a notice for Interpol to collect additional information about a...
Malaysian authorities have issued an Interpol Blue Notice to track down a foreign couple linked to the death of Dutch model Ivana Smit seven years ago.
The police issued the notice against crypto trader Alexander William Johnson and his wife Lunara Almazkyzy, whose apartment in Kuala Lumpur Smit (above) fell from in 2017.
A Blue Notice is a notice for Interpol to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location, or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
The victim’s family counsel, Sankara Nair, told the media this while discussing a potential settlement in their negligence lawsuit against the authorities and government over the investigation into Smit’s death.
"The (civil) court was informed that a Blue Notice was issued by the police on Oct 9 to locate the whereabouts of the suspect.
"The parties have considered a potential settlement, the details of which cannot be disclosed at this time.
"The court has scheduled a follow-up on Oct 21 for the parties to provide an update on the settlement; if no resolution is reached, the trial will proceed on that date,” the lawyer said after proceedings before the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Sankara added that the trial, originally set for today and Oct 16, has been vacated and he was awaiting instructions from his client.
The counsel confirmed that he was referring to Johnson and Almazkyzy when mentioning “suspect”.
‘Sloppy investigation’
Dutch citizen Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen is suing Malaysian authorities for allegedly bungling the probe into her 18-year-old daughter’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 Johnson and Almazkyzy.
Since leaving Malaysia in early 2018, the couple has given international media interviews, in which they admitted to sexual relations with Smit before the incident but denied being responsible for her death.
The Smit family’s civil suit is directed against what it claimed was the authorities’ sloppy and negligent investigation into the model’s death.
The four defendants in the lawsuit are the home minister, the inspector-general of police, investigating officer Faizal Abdullah and the federal government.
Verstappen had filed the civil action in November 2020 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.
Cause of death
The police initially categorised Smit’s case as sudden death.
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 case.
