KUALA LUMPUR - The mother of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit is demanding that the government pay RM1.1mil within 48 hours following the High Court's order.
In a letter of demand from SN Nair & Partners, the law firm that represents Smit's mother Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen, it was stated that the model's family had refrained from making a demand for a swift execution of the court order after it was issued by the High Court to give reasonable room for discretion to the government.
The letter, dated Nov 14, was addressed to Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar and sent via email.
"However, until this letter is written, we have yet to receive any confirmation, response or any proof of payment regarding the amount of damages that was ordered by the court.
"This failure is an act of non-compliance that is obvious and can amount to contempt of court, as the court order was clear, specific and immediate," the letter said.
The law firm said it was instructed by its client to give a 48-hour notice to the defendants as well as the AG, to ensure that the RM1.1mil would be deposited into a stakeholder account with the firm.
"If the defendants fail to make a payment within the stipulated time, we have been instructed to take necessary legal action, including but not limited to, a contempt of court proceedings, to guarantee the compliance of the court order," it said.
In a short message to the press, lawyer Datuk SN Nair said the letter serves as due notice of potential proceedings, should the court's order remain uncomplied with.
On Thursday (Nov 13), the High Court rejected the government's application to postpone the payment of RM1.1mil in damages to Verstappen, in a lawsuit related to Smit's death.
Justice Roz Mawar Rozain ordered the government to deposit the amount, along with accrued interest, into a trust account by Thursday (Nov 13).
The court also ordered the government to pay costs of RM8,000 to Verstappen.
The model's mother, as the plaintiff, had filed a lawsuit against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dang Wangi investigating officer ASP Faizal Abdullah, the Home Minister and the Malaysian government as defendants, alleging a breach of statutory duty and negligence in the investigation into the cause of her daughter's death.
On July 29, Justice Roz Mawar ordered the government to pay RM500,000 in general damages, RM300,000 in aggravated damages and RM300,000 in exemplary damages, in addition to RM100,000 in costs to the plaintiff.
Justice Roz Mawar also directed the IGP (first defendant) to remove Faizal (second defendant) from the task force and ordered the police to reopen the investigation into the death of Ivana Smit as ordered by the High Court in 2019 against the Coroner's Court's decision.
In a lawsuit filed on Nov 20, 2020, Verstappen claimed her daughter was found dead on the sixth floor of CapSquare Residence on Dec 7, 2017, after falling from the 20th floor of a condominium unit owned by United States citizens Alex Johnson and Luna Almazkyzy.
She claimed the police were negligent in failing to cordon off the crime scene, seize the victim's personal belongings, collect evidence, conduct a proper investigation into Johnson and Almazkyzy, and in failing to arrest, extradite and ensure their presence at the inquest as key witnesses.
On March 18, 2019, the Coroner's Court ruled that Smit's death was due to misadventure (accidental death).
Dissatisfied with the Coroner's Court's decision, Verstappen appealed to the High Court here and on Nov 22, 2019, then-High Court Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah (now a Court of Appeal Judge) overturned the Coroner's Court's decision, replacing it with "death caused by an individual or several unknown individuals" and ordered the Attorney General to instruct the police to initiate an investigation. - THE STAR