Ahmad Sarbaini’s family loses suit against MACC

(The Sun Daily) – “There was no evidence of bad intention or abuse of power by the MACC officers. They failed to show that Ahmad Sarbaini’s death was caused by MACC officers”

The High Court here today dismissed a civil suit by the family of Customs Department director Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamad (pix) against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for negligence in the discharge of its public duty.

Ahmad Sarbaini died while in the custody of the MACC in 2011.

Judge Datuk Kamaludin Md Said said the plaintiffs had failed to prove their case on the balance of probability.

“There was no evidence of bad intention or abuse of power by the MACC officers. They failed to show that Ahmad Sarbaini’s death was caused by MACC officers,” he said.

He also ordered the family to pay RM10,000 in costs to the government.

Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, the lawyer for Sarbaini’s wife Maziah Manap and son Shahril Ahmad Sarbaini, said they were disappointed but respected the ruling.

They have 30 days from today to appeal against the decision.

Sarbaini, 56, a Selangor Customs assistant director based at Port Klang, was found dead at the badminton court on the first floor of MACC’s premises at Jalan Cochrane in Kuala Lumpur on April 6, 2011.

He had gone to the MACC office voluntarily to meet with an investigating officer regarding a corruption case involving 62 Customs officers.

Maziah, 53, and Shahril, 30, insisted in April last year that his death was not an accident as ruled by a coroner but an “unlawful killing”.

A coroner’s inquest later found his death to be an accident, after ruling out suicide and foul play.

Coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani judged that Ahmad Sarbaini’s mental state had been affected by the guilt of his previous admission to bribery.

The verdict was rejected by Sarbaini’s family, who have called on the government to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into his death.

MACC and the government were represented by Kamal Azira Hassan and Zureen Elina Mohd Dom.