PKR blames Najib for Pornthip’s no-show
PKR ‘reliably informed’ that the PM communicated with his Thai counterpart, says Surendran.
G Lavendran, FMT (VIDEO INSIDE)
PKR has accused Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak of preventing Thai pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunan from performing a second autopsy on C Sugumar, who died last month in a case of alleged police brutality.
“We have now been informed that Najib communicated with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, regarding the autopsy on Sugumar,” said PKR vice-president N Surendran, who represents Sugumar’s family as a lawyer.
“As a result, the Thai government decided that Pornthip should not perform the second autopsy in order not to undermine the relationship between the two countries.”
Surendran told a press conference here that he obtained the information from an “impeccable source” and had “complete confidence” in its veracity.
“The information has been given to us in writing by an authoritative source,” he said.
Sugumar, a 40-year-old security guard, died on Jan 23. He was allegedly handcuffed and beaten by policemen and villagers in Hulu Langat. Witnesses said a policeman also rubbed turmeric powder into his eyes.
A post-mortem procedure carried out at a government hospital concluded that he died of a heart attack. However, his family is demanding another autopsy by Pornthip before an inquest into the death.
Subang MP R Sivarasa, also a PKR leader, told the press conference he had two demands on Najib.
“Firstly, we urge Najib to come clean with his communications with the Thai government,” he said.
“Secondly, we want Najib to communicate with the Thai government again to allow Porntip to perform the second autopsy on Sugumar.”
Neither Surendran nor Sivarasa would shed further light on the source of information about Najib’s communication with his Thai counterpart, saying they wanted the prime minister to respond to their allegation first.
