SHAH ALAM, Sept 26 — The Defence Ministry (Mindef) and its minister have agreed to refrain from further public comment on the death of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Skudai reserve officer cadet Syamsul Haris Shamsudin, pending the investigation's completion.
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.
Her 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 September 18, as the letter of undertaking has now been received," he said during the proceedings.
Judge Adlin Abdul Majid subsequently recorded the letter dated Wednesday (September 24) issued by Mindef and confirmed its receipt by the court.
Last Thursday (September 18), it was 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 said that a joint investigation committee comprising the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Health, and Higher Education had found no elements of abuse in Syamsul's death.
The exhumation of his remains was carried out on August 29 for a second post-mortem, pursuant to an order issued by the Shah Alam High Court on August 26.
The 22-year-old 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, Hulu Langat.
