Counsel representing at the late DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock's inquest fear that renowned Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand might withdraw from the case following a police report lodged against her yesterday.

Speaking to reporters in Medan Damansara, legal representative for the Selangor government Malik Imtiaz Sawar also described the police report lodged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) yesterday as having "no proper basis".

pornthip rojanasunand Yesterday, two MACC officers filed police reports against the PKR organ Suara Keadilan and Pornthip respectively over an article which confirmed as murder the death of Teoh while being questioned by the MACC.

However, according to Malik, Pornthip has denied the accusation that she had leaked her the report on the second autopsy.

"The Suara Keadilan merely states that it is alleged that Pornthip will confirm her earlier position at the inquest.

"It does not in any way mention that Pornthip disclosed any information   and in fact states that the source from which the information written of was not her," said Malik.

Because of this, he added, Pornthip "is currently considering her position" in the inquest which will resume on Jan 7, when she is expected to disclose her full report on the second autopsy.

Given the reports against her, the Thai pathologist is likely to be interrogated by the police on arrival in Malaysia.

"We have to understand of the two police reports, the one against Suara Keadilan is not what we are concerned with. If they feel that the paper has done anything wrong, that is their right.

"But to equate her with Suara Keadilan, that is what we are concerned about because the paper is a political party newspaper and Pornthip is a witness called by the state government to assist in the inquest.

"She has come voluntarily and not for money but to get at the truth... but now she has to face this sort of publicity generated by the police reports," said Malik.

Teoh's family lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, who was also at the press conference, added that they would advise Pornthip about her position and how to approach the matter.

"On behalf of Teoh's family, I hope Pornthip will remain confident and hope that she will still come to Malaysia to assist us in the inquest... I hope at the end of the day, all these efforts would not go to waste," he said.

Gobind: Raise complaints with coroner

Instead of lodging police reports, said Gobind, the MACC officers should take up the complaints with the coroner at the inquest, giving him the chance to decide.

The Puchong parliamentarian also questioned the necessity to lodge a police report against Pornthip when the Suara Keadilan article only made references to unnamed sources.

"We want to know what is the basis (of the police report). MACC must understand that the inquest is ongoing and many witnesses have yet to give evidence, including Pornthip, and other pathologists involved in the second post-mortem.

gobind singh deo jalan duta court 230409 01 "MACC has to respect the coroner and recognise his role... if the are complaints, they must be taken up before the coroner and he should be given the chance to decide," said Gobind ( left ).

He feared that witnesses may not come back to testify if they have an investigation pending against them.

"...if the witnesses don't come forward because they are threatened by the investigation then I think, we should just discontinue the inquest... but let's hope we don't get to that," said an irate Gobind.

When asked whether the move was a "deliberate attempt" to intimidate witnesses, Gobind replied: "I would not want to comment on that but the public is mature enough to arrive at their own conclusions".

Meanwhile, Malik said the matter would take a complicated turn without Pornthip's presence in court.

"The court expects her to come to the inquest to explain her second autopsy report. So without her there, it would be hard for the coroner because all parties will be given the opportunity to question her findings," he said.

He also added that newly-appointed MACC head Abu Kassim Mohamed, who was on leave when the reports were lodged, would be able to look "a bit closer whether or not it is necessary to proceed with the complaint against Pornthip".

"I hope he can come up with a reasonable conclusion on that," said Malik.

Suspicion aroused by article

Yesterday, MACC officers, Hisham Mohd Yusoff, 30, and Raub Ghani, 41, of the Putrajaya MACC investigation branch, lodged the reports at about 10.30am at the Shah Alam district police headquarters.

In his report Hisham said that he read the article in the latest issue of Suara Keadilan - dated Dec 29, 2009 to Jan 5, 2010 - and found that it concluded that Teoh had been murdered.

He said according to the article, Teoh, who was found dead on the fifth floor of the Plaza Masalam building on July 16 last year, was confirmed to have been murdered based on the report of the second post-mortem conducted on the body at the Sungai Buloh Hospital on Nov 22 last year.

In the other police report, Raub said he lodged it against Pornthip on suspicion that she had leaked the forensic report information to unauthorised people.