Renowned Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand will not be in Kuala Lumpur to testify at the Teoh Beng Hock inquest when it resumes hearing on Tuesday.

teoh beng hock inquest 070809 malik imtiaz.jpg Malik Imtiaz Sarwar ( left ), who is the lawyer representing the Selangor government, today confirmed that Pornthip will not be able to make it to the inquest.

“(She is) not coming on Tuesday as far as I know,” said Malik.

Malik has made an application on behalf of the Selangor government to the Shah Alam magistrate’s court on Thursday seeking a postponement of the hearing.

According to the application, the state government needs more time to secure the attendance of the Thai pathologist.

The Selangor government has written to the Thai Ministry of Justice guaranteeing Pornthip's personal safety should she come to Malaysia to testify at the inquest. But it has yet to receive a reply.

With the absence of Pornthip, the inquest is expected to deal with another matter - the application by lawyer Karpal Singh to cite Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz for contempt of court.

The motion to cite the minister for contempt was supported by an affidavit filed by Teoh Meng Kee, who is Beng Hock's brother.

Nazri Abdul Aziz was quoted by Malaysiakini to have said: " She is a liar . She lied in the inquest."

‘Political pressure’

Malaysiakini had earlier reported that the pathologist may not come to testify citing "political pressure" from the Malaysian government.

Three days later, Pornthip told Malaysiakini that she was willing to testify , provided her safety is guaranteed by the Malaysian government.

NONE It is not known whether the Malaysian government has issued a written guarantee to Pornthip on the matter.

Pornthip ( right ) participated in the second post-mortem after Teoh's body was exhumed last November in the wake of her explosive testimony - based on photos taken from the first post-mortem - that the deceased could have been strangled before falling from the MACC building.

The second post-mortem was done by Dr Shahidan Md Noor, the head pathologist from the Sungai Buloh Hospital, in the presence of Pornthip, representing the Selangor government, and Dr Peter Venezis, the British pathologist hired by MACC.

Shahidan testified last month that, based on the second post-mortem, it was not possible Teoh was strangled, while Venezis is to testify on April 26 and 27.