He called the investigation shoddy and riddled with holes.
Lawyer Sebas Diekstra said the initial investigation into Smit’s death appeared to be an open-and-shut case, as Smit’s death was immediately “parked as an accident” by Malaysian police.
Two weeks ago, Smit, 18, was found sprawled nude on the sixth floor of an apartment in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Police classified the case as sudden death and are waiting for post-mortem and pathology tests.
The Dutch model fell from the balcony of a 20th floor unit of an apartment and landed on the balcony of a 6th-floor unit on Jalan Dang Wangi.
Police believed she was intoxicated at the time. Smit was said to have been in the apartment of a couple — an American man and his Kazakhstan wife.
News reports said she had been out drinking with the couple in Bangsar before her death.
Diekstra, a military man turned lawyer, is well-known in The Netherlands for helping families of those who have died under suspicious circumstances.
In an interview with FMT, Diesktra talked about what he had said on national television on Friday night and his views on the second post-mortem that was concluded in The Netherlands yesterday (Sunday).
“I told them on the TV show that the mere fact that the case was closed within a day was proof that there was poor investigation by the Malaysian authorities.
“And sadly, the Netherlands government does not dare to interfere in the Malaysian investigation,” Diesktra said.
On Friday’s night’s episode of Dutch TV channel RTL 4’s “RTL Late Night”, Smit’s murder took centre stage, with Ivana’s uncle Melvin Smit present.
A visibly disturbed Melvin told the show that the family could not accept the fact that Ivana had died due to an accident.
“It is too easy to say it is ‘sudden death’. We cannot accept the result.
“The lack of involvement of the American couple who Ivana was last seen with was also baffling,” he told the show.
The couple were reported to have been charged with drug-related crimes in a KL court, based on blood tests and released on bail. The man is a cryptocurrency trader.
Also briefly discussed in the show was the connection of a “Malaysian minister” to the couple.
Body not embalmed, says expert
Dr Frank van de Goot, a pathologist, who was assigned to conduct a second post-mortem on Ivana, was also present as part of the audience in the show.
The famous Dutch pathologist told the show that Ivana’s family had attempted to bring him to Kuala Lumpur to conduct a second post-mortem, but this was not allowed by the Malaysian authorities.
Dr van der Goot said although Ivana’s body was being repatriated back to the Netherlands, “important details are likely lost” in transit, due to how bodies are stored and transported.
He said despite the uncertainties, he was confident the second autopsy would yield results, as he was told the body had yet to be embalmed.
Dr van der Goot and Diesktra are well-known personalities on Dutch TV as they appear on a reality show “Moord of Zelfmoord?” (Murder or suicide?).
The two men are the consultant pathologist and lawyer in the show.
Diesktra was a former decorated major with the Dutch military police, who left the force to become a lawyer a few years ago, specialising in murder cases.
On Saturday, Ivana’s body arrived at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport at 5.30am local time and was sent to the Alkmaar Medical Centre for an autopsy by Dr van der Goot.
Diekstra said the second autopsy was completed yesterday and the results would be made known by the first week of January.
Smits to hire award-winning UK investigator
The Smits have declared that there would be no “merry” Christmas this time around, as Ivana was gone.
They are now pinning their hopes on hiring Mark Williams-Thomas, an award-winning British investigative reporter and criminologist to head to KL in search of the truth.
He is a former police detective who has worked on high-profile investigations and has won a Peabody award for his work.
“We are now raising funds to hire Williams-Thomas. He will cost us 13,000 pounds sterling with VAT or 18,000 Euros (about RM87,000).
“We think he can find out what exactly happened, including the necessary evidence to make it stick… and obtain the righteousness the Netherlands, Malaysia and even the rest of the world crave for in this case,” Melvin said.
To date, 8,905 Euros (RM43,000) from 345 people has been received at the crowdfunding site Doneeractie.
Ivana will be buried in Roermond, a town in her birth state of Limburg, Netherlands, this Saturday at 12.30pm.