Latest news with #RozMawarRozain
News24
30-07-2025
- News24
Malaysian court orders new probe into Dutch teenager's death
A Malaysian court has ordered police to resume a probe into the death of Dutch teenager Ivana Smit, vindicating her family's allegations of a botched investigation into the eight-year-old case. Awarding Smit's mother more than one million ringgit ($260,000) in damages, the Malaysian High Court found a "profound failure" in how police handled the 2017 case, according to court documents seen by AFP on Wednesday. Judge Roz Mawar Rozain said numerous investigative errors were made from the start, including failure to preserve evidence, mishandling a potential crime scene and allowing a couple allegedly at the site to leave the country. "This case represents a profound failure of Malaysia's law enforcement system," Roz Mawar wrote in her judgment. "The death of an 18-year-old young woman under suspicious circumstances should have prompted the most thorough and professional investigation. Instead, the evidence reveals a litany of failures, incompetence and disregard for proper procedure," the judge ruled. Smit's death made headlines after she plunged to her death from a 20th-floor Kuala Lumpur condominium where she had reportedly partied with an American and his Kazakh wife. Initially, police ruled the case a suicide, but in 2019, the Malaysian High Court, based on an autopsy report, overturned the finding and determined that "persons known or unknown" were involved in Smit's death. While a new probe was ordered, the case stalled. "The investigation has effectively come to a standstill with no meaningful progress since 2019," Judge Roz Mawar said. In 2020, Smit's mother filed a civil suit against four defendants, including an investigating officer, the police and the Malaysian government, claiming incompetence. On Tuesday, Judge Roz Mawar agreed, pointing to a series of errors, including allowing the couple to leave the country, despite the DNA evidence found under Smit's fingernails. Smit's mother, "aside from handling her own grief, has had to endure years of institutional indifference and investigative failure," the judge said. She ordered the defendants to pay 1.1 million ringgit in damages. "It is the responsibility of the state to protect human life and provide reparations when appropriate," the judge said. "The defendants have failed in this fundamental duty." jhe/lb
Malaysiakini
30-07-2025
- Malaysiakini
Judgment highlights 'litany of failures' in investigating model's death
The Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment yesterday regarding the negligence suit against the investigation of Dutch model Ivana Smit's death gave a damning assessment of the police's conduct. While judge Roz Mawar Rozain said her court's findings serve to identify specific institutional failures that require correction and should not be interpreted as criticism of the police force generally, it also listed a 'litany of failures' in the police's handling of the case. 'This case represents a profound...
Malaysiakini
29-07-2025
- Malaysiakini
High Court orders govt to pay RM1.1m over bungled Dutch model death probe
The High Court ruled that the government must pay RM1.1 million in compensation to Dutch model Ivana Smit's family following the authorities' failure to properly investigate her 2017 death in Kuala Lumpur. According to Free Malaysia Today, judge Roz Mawar Rozain found the government and police guilty of negligence in carrying out their responsibilities...
New Straits Times
29-07-2025
- New Straits Times
High Court orders police to reopen investigation into Dutch model Ivana Smit's death
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered the police to recommence the investigation into the death of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit, who was found dead after falling from the 20th floor of a condominium here in 2017. Judge Roz Mawar Rozain also ordered the police to brief the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) every three months on the progress of the investigation. The A-GC will determine the sufficiency of the evidence and the next course of action. Roz Mawar said this in her judgment after awarding Smit's mother RM1.1 million in damages in her suit against the Inspector-General of Police, the investigating officer and the government today. She said police had been negligent in their investigation and had failed to comply with a 2019 High Court order to properly reinvestigate the case. In 2019, then High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah had directed the A-GC to order the police to investigate the cause of Ivana's death, after setting aside the inquest verdict that classified her death as a 'misadventure' and reclassifying it as death caused by a person or persons known or unknown.
Malaysiakini
29-07-2025
- Malaysiakini
High Court orders govt to pay RM1.1m over bungled Dutch model death probe
The High Court has ruled that the government must pay RM1.1 million in compensation to Dutch model Ivana Smit's family following the authorities' failure to properly investigate her death. According to Free Malaysia Today, judge Roz Mawar Rozain found the government and police guilty of negligence in carrying out their responsibilities.
