2024 Trial Dates For Suit Against Cops Over Dutch Model S Death

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The civil court has set 18 days next year to hear a family’s lawsuit against the police and government over the 2017 death of Dutch model Ivana Smit (above).
Counsel Sankara Nair, who represented Smit’s mother Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen, confirmed the 2024 dates set by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur during case management this morning.
The dates for trial before judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain are Oct 14 to 16, Oct 21 to 23, Oct 28 to 30, as well as Nov 4 to 6, Nov 11 to 13, and Nov 18 to 20 next year.
On Dec 7, 2017, Smit’s body was discovered on the balcony of a sixth-floor unit of the CapSquare Residence in Kuala Lumpur, 14 floors below the 20th-floor condo unit of couple Alexander William Johnson and Lunara Almazkyzy. The duo left Malaysia in early 2018.
The family’s civil suit is over the authorities’ alleged shoddy and negligent investigation into the 18-year-old’s death.
Sudden death
The four defendants in the lawsuit are the home minister (who is not named), the inspector-general of police (who is not named), investigating officer Faizal Abdullah, and the federal government.
Initially, in December 2017, the police classified the 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 2019, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur overturned the coroner’s finding, ruling there was insufficient investigation on the possibility of death by homicide and on the possibility it may have been caused by “persons known or unknown” to the victim.
Following the High Court ruling, the police announced a new task force would be formed to reopen investigations into the case.
In November 2020, Verstappen, 57, filed the suit against the defendants in order to seek general, aggravated, and exemplary damages over negligence, gross negligence, misfeasance, and/or nonfeasance.
The family seeks a declaration that the defendants failed to carry out their duties as per the High Court ruling on Nov 22, 2019, which overturned the ruling of misadventure.
They are seeking a mandamus order for the IGP, home minister, and/or the government to issue a warrant of arrest and extradite Johnson and Almazkyzy to Malaysia for further questioning and possible prosecution.
Since leaving Malaysia in 2018, cryptocurrency trader Johnson and his wife Almazkyzy have given interviews to international media, where they admitted to having sexual relations with Smit prior to the incident but denied being responsible for her death. - Mkini

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