Dr Pornthip says Putrajaya not happy with her
(The Malaysian Insider) – Dr Pornthip (picture) told The Malaysian Insider via email yesterday that the deputy to the permanent secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) had informed her of a message from the Malaysian government that it was “not happy with my work, especially in (the) case of TBH (Teoh Beng Hock).”
Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand has said she declined to perform a second autopsy on security guard C. Sugumar as the Malaysian government was not happy with her previous work in the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
Sugumar’s family lawyer N. Surendran said last Tuesday that the Thai forensic pathologist made the sudden about-turn after he announced that she was due to arrive next Wednesday for the post-mortem on Sugumar, who allegedly died from police brutality last month.
Dr Pornthip (picture) told The Malaysian Insider via email yesterday that the deputy to the permanent secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) had informed her of a message from the Malaysian government that it was “not happy with my work, especially in (the) case of TBH (Teoh Beng Hock).”
Dr Pornthip had observed Teoh’s second post-mortem and testified at both a coroner’s inquest and before a royal commission that foul play was likely involved in the DAP aide’s mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Selangor headquarters in 2009.
The royal commission subsequently concluded that Teoh was driven to suicide after aggressive and relentless interrogation by three MACC officers.
“I told the lawyer that I’m (a) government officer under (the) Ministry of Justice that need(s) permission from (the) permanent secretary,” said Dr Pornthip, who is the director of Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science, which is under the MOJ. Dr Pornthip stressed that she needed to have the authority to perform the autopsy on Sugumar without any limitations, but did not specify if the MOJ had prohibited her from doing so.
“Please send my message to your people that I’ve never wanted to (be) involved in politics. I understand that each country have (sic) their own justice system, but there should be no barrier for the people to seek justice,” she said.
Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dr-pornthip-says-putrajaya-not-happy-with-her/
