KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Naval cadet officer J. Soosaimanicckam’s death from an oedema in 2018 was the result of homicide, the High Court found today in overturning a coroner’s court inconclusive findings during the death inquest.

Justice Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed said the death was directly caused by the refusal of Soosaimanicckam’s superiors in the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) to let him seek medical care in a timely fashion.

"Considering all the evidence before the inquest and the coroner’s limited judicial appreciation of (it), this court sets aside the finding of ‘open verdict’ of the learned coroner and substitutes it with ‘homicide’.

"Pursuant to the Chief Justice’s Practice Direction No. 2 and Section 337 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) (an inquiry will be made) to decide who is the person criminally concerned in the cause of death,” Wahab was quoted as saying.

A coroner’s court on June 23 ruled that Soosaimanicckam’s death on May 19, 2018 from pulmonary oedema was suspicious, but not enough to support criminal action.

During the inquest, witnesses testified that officers in charge of Soosaimanicckam’s had targeted him, regularly imposing physical punishment on him, and slapped him, among other things.

Lawyer Zaid Malek represented Soosaimanicckam’s family, with the prosecution headed by Evangelin Simon Silvaraj.