The widow of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed, the Selangor Customs assistant director who was found dead while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2011, cried in court saying that she wants justice for him.
Masiah @Maziah Manap, 53, said on Monday that her family decided to sue MACC and eight others to know the reason for his death.
“We want to know how can a healthy person who went to MACC on April 6, 2011 can be returned to us lifeless.
“MACC has to be responsible for what had happened to him as he was at their place when his life was taken,” she sobbed before High Court judge Justice Kamaludin Md Said when testifying in her civil suit against the nine parties.
In the suit filed on April 4, Masiah and her son Shahril, 30, named as plaintiffs, are seeking more than RM8mil in damages.
“I am very disappointed as during, after and even until now, there is not a single MACC officer who came to me or my family to ask for forgiveness for what had happened to him (Ahmad Sarbaini),” the first witness said in between tears.
Ahmad Sarbaini, 56, who was attached to the Port Klang Customs office, was found dead at the badminton court on the first floor of the MACC building in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6, 2011.
[Ahmad Sarbaini – file pix]
Questioned by her lead counsel Razlan Hadri, Masiah, who is a supervisor at Petronas Dagangan Bhd, said her husband was a straightforward and an honest person.
“His lifestyle is to live according to what we can afford. I had been married to him for 28 years.” She said her family’s life was moderate and they did not go overseas for holidays.
“We do not have luxury cars or big houses. Our children study at government schools,” the mother of five children said.
Questioned further, Masiah said she was shocked upon learning from the television over the nature of her late husband’s death and her family members were traumatised over the incident.
“My family members started to ask me about him and I was really shocked over the condition of his face as if he had been hit against the wall. I still do not know the true story,” she said, adding that her family has to face negative perceptions from the public that there was a possibility of her husband committing bribery and/or suicide.
She said she had sent a last text message to her late husband on April 2, 2011 that God would help a person who was truthful but she did not receive any reply when her husband was at MACC’s office.
“I was very worried but tried to console myself,” she said.
Masiah said she got a call from her late husband later and went to see him at the MACC office but was shocked to see him in lock-up uniform.
“He came to me and hugged me like he had not seen me for a long time and was relieved to see me. I was scared when he embraced me like that,” she said.
Questioned by Razlan, Masiah said she had asked her late husband for the reason of his arrest and was told of allegations by companies’ agents that he had accepted bribes to which he denied.
Cross-examined by Senior Federal Counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom that Masiah did not know her late husband’s character as a customs officer and his overall personality, she disagreed.
She agreed to SFC Zureen that she did not know that Ahmad Sarbaini was investigated by MACC. She disagreed to a suggestion by SFC Zureen that MACC had never lied to him.
When suggested that Masiah did not ask MACC over what had happened to her husband on the day of the incident, she agreed, saying that she was confused over his death. The hearing continues.
In the suit, Masiah and her son Shahril are seeking damages for alleged assault and battery, mental torture as well as misfeasance of public office and negligence.
Ahmad Sarbaini was reported to have gone to the commission’s office to meet the investigation officer assigned to corruption cases involving 62 customs officers.
The plaintiffs have named the Government, MACC, its chief commissioner and six officers involved in his arrest and interrogation as defendants.
They are claiming that the defendants had failed to ensure a safe system in the interrogation and handling of suspects under their care.
The Coroner’s Court on Sept 26, 2011, delivered a verdict of misadventure and ruled that there were no elements of suicide, homicide or third party involvement in Ahmad Sarbaini’s death.-thestar online
