NO amount of money can replace the life of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur, who died in police custody five years ago, said his family.

His brother, Syed Mohamad Syariff, said the family are happy with the outcome of their civil suit but more importantly, they want justice served with the prosecution of the three policemen involved.

He hopes that Attorney-General Tommy Thomas will proceed with the legal process to ensure the three police officers are punished.

“We are happy to win (the civil case) but no amount of money can replace his life. It’s just because of the evidence that we won.

“Even after five years, it’s still worthless to win and get compensation. Which is why we expect the attorney-general to appeal their (police officers’) criminal case in the high court,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The Johor Baru High Court on Thursday ordered the police to pay more than RM400,000 in damages to Syed Azlan’s family.

Judge See Mee Chun delivered the decision after reviewing all the evidence and concluded that Syed Azlan was the victim of “arbitrary and unconstitutional acts of the respondent (the police)”.

Syed Azlan, 25, a masseur, was arrested at his home on November 3, 2014 on suspicion of possessing a firearm and being involved in a riot.

The victim died five hours later in police custody at the Sg Rengit police station.

The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) later found Syed Azlan was “murdered” by police officers assaulted him while he was in custody.

He was found with 61 wounds on the body.

The EAIC report said police cleaned up the scene of the beatings and disposed of certain evidence before the arrival of medical officers.

Following this, three police officers – Weddin Mojingkin, Joshua Perait and Muhammad Bunyamin – were charged with causing death without intent to kill but according to the family, the case against the trio has been dropped.

“We were informed that the prosecution of the three policemen has been dropped and we have not been notified because the family have nothing to do with the case.

“For this criminal case, the power of prosecution lies with the attorney-general. That is why we hope the A-G can consider appealing the criminal case again,” said Syed Syariff.

Syed Azlan’s father, Syed Mohamed Nur, hoped that other families never have to suffer the same tragedy.

He said it was a blessing to win the civil suit but he remains frustrated and saddened over his son’s death.

“I accept the court’s decision even though it is sad but I hope what happened to my son won’t happen to any other family.” – December 25, 2019.