“We welcome the news and we are taking steps to contact the Thai Ministry of Justice.” said one of the officials.
Pornthip had said on Sunday that she had come under “political pressure” from Putrajaya and would not testify at the inquest which is scheduled to resume on April 20.
However, she was reported today as saying that she would testify as long as she received a guarantee of her safety from the Malaysian government.
According to online news portal Malaysiakini, Pornthip wants an official guarantee from both the government and the Attorney-General's Chambers that she will have the “freedom to perform her professional duty as an independent witness."
However, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and even the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have already announced that that she is welcome to testify and that her security would be guaranteed.
The 54-year-old pathologist, who is a civil servant attached to the Thai Justice Ministry, had earlier testified that Teoh's death was “80 per cent homicide” and contradicted earlier findings by local experts that his death was likely a suicide.
She claims to have been advised by authorities in her own country to cease participating in the inquest so as not to jeopardise ties between Thailand and Malaysia.
The Selangor government, who hired Pornthip as an independent witness, had hoped that she would be allowed to testify via video conferencing if she did not feel safe coming to Malaysia.
However, her latest about-turn now makes this unnecessary.
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