The Malaysian Bar - Court rules out foul play

Home

News

Legal/General News

Court rules out foul play

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:05am

©The New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Jennifer Gomez

KUALA LUMPUR: Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed's wife cut a forlorn figure when the coroner ruled that the Selangor Customs assistant director's death was an accident.

Ahmad Sarbaini's family lawyer Awtar Singh, however, expressed shock at the verdict and told reporters they might consider filing for a revision of the coroner's verdict.

Masiah @ Maziah Manap, who was the first witness in the inquest of her husband's death, left all the talking to her older brother Mohd Shah Jaafar yesterday, after the verdict at the coroner's court.

"We have family and our lawyers to consult before we decide on what to do next," Mohd Shah said to reporters, who had gathered around him and the teary-eyed Masiah.

Earlier in reading out his verdict, coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani had ruled out murder, foul play or suicide.

He put the time of Ahmad Sarbaini's death at between 10am and 10.30am on April 6, adding that the cause of death was severe head injuries and "positional asphyxia" due to his fall from the third floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission building in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur.

"The theory that he was murdered cannot be supported," the coroner read, adding there was no evidence of suicide.

Aizatul said based on evidence, it was clear that Ahmad Sarbaini had gone to the MACC office on his own will, on April 6.

Aizatul said that, when the Customs officer made an admission on April 4 to receiving bribes from two forwarding agents, it had affected his thinking.

"The fact that he was detained at the Bukit Jalil lock-up also played on his mind. He then told his friends that the lock-up experience was 'hell on earth'.

"The pressure resulted in him wanting to retract his guilty admission."

Aizatul said that when Ahmad Sabaini turned up at the MACC office on April 6, he thought that he might be detained for wanting to change his admission.

"This was evident when an MACC security personnel saw him looking anxious and hitting his head with his hand while waiting to see MACC officer Sheikh Niza Khairy Sheikh Mohamad.

"His anxiety increased when he was told that he could not change his admission, and needed to write to the MACC," said Aizatul.

Things became worst when Sheikh Niza grabbed Ahmad Sabaini handphone and ordered him to call Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki (one of the forwarding agents he allegedly took bribes from) and tell Zainal to come to the MACC office that morning.

Ahmad Sarbaini, the coroner said, was seen holding and shaking his head.

Ahmad Sabaini was then told to wait in a witness room, while waiting for Zainal to arrive.

Aizatul said, Ahmad Sarbaini was accompanied by MACC officer Kamal Awang Besar, who had left him alone in the room for a while.

"In my opinion, Kamal was negligent in his duties when he left Ahmad Sarbaini alone in the room," the coroner added.

The coroner said that when Ahmad Sabaini's handphone was taken away from him and when he was asked to wait in the witness room, Ahmad Sarbaini felt that he was being detained by the MACC.

"His 'hell on earth' picture resurfaced in his mind and he was determined to escape from the MACC building through any means," the coroner said.

He added that since Ahmad Sarbaini had been in the building on April 1, 2 and 4, he knew about the pantry and refrained from using the lift and stairs to avoid being stopped by MACC officers.

"To avoid being detained by MACC again, he tried to escape through the pantry window. I visited the scene of the incident and agree that when one is standing near the window, the roof of the annexed building looks close enough," he said.

Aizatul said that Ahmad Sarbaini had an optical illusion and thought that he would be able to land on the roof.

"It is important for me to state here that I do not agree with the suggestion that Ahmad Sarbaini tried to escape so that he could warn Zainal to ensure that their 'stories' were consistent.

"I think this is just an assumption. I also don't want to go into whether there was bribery involved as that would be going out of this inquest' terms of reference," the coroner said.

Aizatul also said he found no evidence of foul play or third party involvement in the death of Ahmad Sarbaini.

"Based on the evidence before me, I find that Ahmad Sarbaini fell from the third floor of the MACC building and landed on the badminton court and died there.

"I rule a verdict of misadventure," Aizatul said.

After proceedings, MACC lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said coroner's verdict was "accurate" and said that it had cleared the MACC one hundred per cent of any wrongdoing, except for one individual.

He was referring to Kamal, who had left Ahmad Sarbaini alone for a short period in the witness room.

"To say that Ahmad Sarbaini tried to escape from the building does not make sense," commented Awtar.

Set as favourite

Email This