SHAH ALAM: The Minister of Defence and the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) have agreed to refrain from further public comment on the death of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Skudai reserve officer cadet, the late Syamsul Haris Shamsudin, pending the completion of the investigation.
This undertaking was communicated to the High Court today, following the applicant’s receipt of a letter of undertaking from the respondents after a notice of motion was filed by the deceased’s mother, Ummu Haiman Bee Daulatgun, 45.
Ummu Haiman’s counsel, Naran Singh, informed the court that his team had received a copy of the letter this morning from senior federal counsel Roziza Sidek, who acts for the respondents.
“We request that the third paragraph be recorded, namely that the Minister of Defence and Mindef have provided an undertaking that no further statements regarding the investigation into this case will be issued through any media outlet until it is concluded.
“In light of this, we also withdraw the interim injunction issued by this court on Sept 18, as the letter of undertaking has now been received,“ he said during today’s proceedings.
Judge Adlin Abdul Majid subsequently recorded the letter dated Sept 24 issued by Mindef and confirmed its receipt by the court.
On Sept 18, the media reported that the family of the late Syamsul Haris had obtained an interim undertaking from Roziza, representing the Defence Minister and Mindef.
Ummu Haiman had sought an order to prevent the respondents from issuing any statements that could interfere with the investigation, including the ongoing second post-mortem into her son’s death.
Previously, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was reported as stating that a joint investigation committee comprising the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Health, and Higher Education had found no elements of abuse in Syamsul Haris’s death.
The exhumation of his remains was carried out on Aug 29 for a second post-mortem, pursuant to an order issued by the Shah Alam High Court on Aug 26.
Syamsul Haris, 22, was reported to have died on July 28 at Kota Tinggi Hospital, Johor, while undergoing training at the Combat Inoculation Firing Range, Army Combat Training Centre (Pulada) in Ulu Tiram, Johor.
He was laid to rest at the Kampung Rinching Hulu Muslim cemetery in Semenyih. – Bernama