The family of Ivana Esther Robert Smit has gone to the Court of Appeal to reinstate their lawsuit over the Dutch model’s death in late 2017.
The family’s lawyer Sankara Nair today confirmed the appeal was filed at the Court of Appeal on May 18.
The appeal is over the April 21 decision of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to strike out the suit against the police, the home minister and the government.
It was reported that High Court judge Akhtar Tahir struck out the suit for not complying with Order 18 Rule 7 of the Rules of Court 2012.
Smit’s mother Christina Carolina Gerarda Johanna Verstappen, 57, filed the suit over the allegation that the police had been negligent in investigating the case.
On Dec 7, 2017, Smit’s nude body was discovered sprawled on the sixth-floor condo of CapSquare Residence in Kuala Lumpur, 14 floors below the 20th-floor condo unit of Alexander William Johnson and Lunara Almazkyzy. She was 18.
Cryptocurrency trader Johnson and his wife Almazkyzy left Malaysia in 2018.
“The notice of appeal has been filed at the Court of Appeal on May 18, and the same (copy of the notice of appeal) has been served on the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC),” Sankara informed the media.
The AGC acts for the defendants in the suit.
In December 2017, the police classified the case as sudden death.
On March 8, 2019, the Kuala Lumpur Coroner’s Court ruled her death as a misadventure.
However, in November 2019, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur overturned the coroner’s finding, ruling that there was an insufficient investigation done on the possibility of death by homicide, but 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 the investigation into the case.
In November last year, Verstappen filed the suit against the defendants, where the Smit’s family is seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages over negligence, gross negligence, misfeasance and/or nonfeasance.
They seek a declaration that the defendants had failed to carry out their duties as per the High Court ruling on Nov 22, 2019, which overturned the ruling of misadventure.
The family is seeking a mandamus order for the inspector-general of police, 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, the couple has given interviews to international media, where they admitted to having a form of "threesome" sexual relations with Smit prior to the incident, but denied being responsible for her death. - Mkini
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