KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): The government and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) have missed the court-ordered deadline to pay RM1.1 million in damages owed to the family of the late teenage Dutch model Ivana Smit, which was due on Friday (Nov 14).
This has prompted the family’s lawyer to issue a letter to the AGC, warning that he will initiate contempt of court proceedings against the government should they fail to pay the sum within 48 hours.
Datuk Sankara Nair, who is representing Smit’s family, has sent the letter to Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar to note that the government and the AGC have not complied with the court order to make the payment “immediately” on Thursday (Nov 13).
Sankara told The Edge that the 48 hours begins as at 1pm on Friday, when his firm sent the letter to the AGC. As at press time, Sankara said that the AGC has not acknowledged receipt of the letter.
On Thursday, judge Roz Mawar Rozain had denied the government’s application to stay the payment pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal. Instead, the judge ordered the government to deposit the sum, together with accrued interest, in the client account of the law firm representing the Smit family by the end of Thursday.
Roz Mawar had ordered the government to pay the sum on Thursday as part of her landmark judgement on July 29 this year, where she had ruled that the police had been negligent in their investigation into Smit's death. The court had ordered the police to recommence investigations and submit quarterly progress reports to the AGC.
However, according to Sankara, none of the court orders had been complied with.
“Nevertheless, as at the time this letter is written, we have yet to receive any confirmation, response, or any proof of payment regarding the ordered damages,” the lawyer said.
“This failure constitutes a clear form of non-compliance and may be regarded as contempt of the court’s order, given that the court’s directive is clear, specific, and immediate in nature,” Sankara stated in the letter to Dusuki, which was sighted by The Edge.
Sankara then gave the AGC and the government 48 hours to pay the RM1.1 million to the law firm’s client account.
“In line with our client’s instructions, we hereby give 48 hours’ notice to the defendants as well as to Tan Sri (Dusuki) to ensure that the judgement sum of RM1.1 million is paid and deposited into our stakeholder account as ordered by the High Court,” he wrote.
Sankara warned that if the notice is not complied with and payment is not made by the stipulated 48 hours’ notice, he will be forced to initiate contempt proceedings against the government.
“Please be reminded that should the defendants fail to make payment within the stipulated period, we have been instructed to take any necessary and appropriate legal steps, including but not limited to contempt of court proceedings, to ensure full compliance with the said payment order,” said the letter.
Of the RM1.1 million, Roz Mawar ordered the government to pay RM500,000 as general damages and an additional RM600,000 as aggravated and exemplary damages to the family.
The judge also ordered the government to pay the family RM8,000 in costs.
The chronology of the case highlights repeated failures:
- 2017: Smit’s body is discovered under suspicious circumstances after a fall from her condominium.
- 2019: The High Court, overturning the coroner’s “misadventure” ruling, declares that her death was caused by a person or persons unknown, and orders the investigation to be reopened.
- 2025: The High Court reaffirms previous findings, holding the inspector general of police, Dang Wangi investigating officer Assistant Superintendent Faizal Abdullah, the home minister, and the government of Malaysia liable in negligence, and issues a mandamus order compelling the authorities to do an immediate reinvestigation.
Smit’s body was found at CapSquare Residences, Kuala Lumpur, on Dec 7, 2017, under what the court had previously described as “highly suspicious circumstances”.