KUALA LUMPUR: The family of Muhammad Lailatulman Mohd Sukri have applied for the Malaysian Armed Forces Council and the Chief of the Navy to be cited for contempt.
The High Court had ordered for an inquiry into the circumstances around the deaths of Lailatulman and Nik Muhammad Baihaqy Nik Mat on Nov 13.
“Due to the failure of Chief of Navy and the MAF Council to convene an investigative board as well as the actions of the Commander of the Western Fleet to convene an investigation conflicting with the mandamus order, the deceased’s family filed an application to cite the Commander of the Navy and the Commander of the Western Fleet for contempt,” the lawyers said in a statement today.
The family filed the suit through law firm Zahlil, Mohd and Partners.
The lawyers appended a copy of the mandamus order issued on Nov 13 in which the High Court ordered the MAF Council and the Royal Malaysian Navy to convene an investigative board to determine the acts and omissions that led to the two men’s death.
Nik Muhammad, 28, and Lailatulman, 26 had appeared to be exhausted and were vomiting and having breathing difficulties after undergoing physical training.
They were then given treatment by staff at the unit but were pronounced dead by the paramedics at 3.15pm on Sept 29, 2017.
However, a post-mortem by the Pathology Department of the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital revealed that the two sailors died due to bleeding of the lungs and blunt trauma on soft tissue.
Following the incident, three RMN personnel, who were on duty on the day of the incident, were remanded for seven days from Oct 1, 2017 to facilitate investigations.
Meanwhile, sources said those under “punishment” would normally be sent to the detention unit for some period depending on the offences they had committed.
The defence minister at the time, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, had pledged that there would be no cover-up to the incident.
