A Nigerian national has secured a major legal victory after the High Court awarded him RM675,000 (about US$170,000) in damages for unlawful detention by authorities in 2021.
According to nst.com.my, the court ruled that the man was wrongfully held for about 40 days, describing the detention as a violation of his rights and ordering compensation for the ordeal.
Judge Jamhirah Ali allowed Simon Adavize Momoh’s civil action against the government, the Home Ministry, the Immigration Department and the Prisons Department, finding that the detention was unlawful.
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In her decision, the court assessed general damages at RM15,000 per day of wrongful detention, while exemplary damages were fixed at RM75,000.
The court also awarded RM40,000 in costs to the plaintiff (Momoh), together with interest at the rate of five per cent per annum from the date the writ was filed on Jan 10, 2023.
Senior lawyer Datuk Guardial Singh Nijar who represented Momoh confirmed this when contacted.
On April 23, 2021, then High Court judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman ordered Momoh immediate release after allowing his habeas corpus application.
Habeas Corpus is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or to court to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.
On March 15, the same year, the 38-year-old man was arrested at a roadblock in Cheras on suspicion of drink-driving.
He pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to a day’s jail and fined RM12,000 by the magistrate’s court.
The father of two served his term and paid the fine.
However, instead of being released, Momoh was taken to the Kajang prison where he was held until April 7 before being transferred to the Immigration Department’s detention centre at Semenyih.
