Senior customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamad died at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur five years ago after he tried to retract his statement.

Last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the wife, Maznah Manap, and son Shahril Ahmad Sarbaini's suit against MACC for unlawful arrest, detention, misfeasance in public office and abuse of power.

However, Justice Kamaludin Md Said ruled that Ahmad Sarbaini was under the care and control of the MACC when he died.

Ahmad Sarbaini's death has been classified as a misadventure following an inquest. During the course of the inquest and the civil case, the court was told there was a CCTV recording, but it had been accidentally deleted by the MACC security.

Come June 20, his family's appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal before a three-member bench, where Maznah and her family members hope they can find justice following the death of their loved one.

This was confirmed by the family's lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli to Malaysiakini.

It was reported that the 56-year-old senior customs officer fell to his death on April 6, 2011, at the MACC's Federal Territory headquarters on Jalan Cochrane, in an incident similar to political aide Teoh Beng Hock several years earlier.

Ahmad Sarbaini was under investigation for alleged graft and money laundering in an operation mounted by the MACC, the Inland Revenue Board, Customs Department and Bank Negara in Penang, Johor, Selangor and Pahang.

The Teoh Beng Hock Trust expressed regret over the High Court's decision, saying the MACC should be held liable for Ahmad Sarbaini's death.

However, unlike Teoh's death where the family was awarded RM600,000 for negligence, Ahmad Sarbaini's family did not get anything but instead had to pay RM10,000 in costs when the suit was dismissed.