Lawyers
for Sugumar's family said that the assurance was given by the
ministry's deputy chief secretary Dr Mohd Azhar Yahaya and medical
development director Dr Azmi Shapie during a meeting in Putrajaya today.Lawyer Latheefa Koya said the duo also agreed to have the ministry supply the necessary facilities for Pornthip to conduct the procedure at the Serdang Hospital.
After
waiting for two hours, the family members were provided the
authorisation letter which stated that Pornthip must apply to the
Malaysian Medical Council for permission to conduct the autopsy.This was necessary to allow foreigners to conduct autopsies in Malaysia. Latheefa said the message would be conveyed to Pornthip immediately.
Sugumar, 40, was allegedly beaten to death while handcuffed, after being chased by three police personnel and a mob at Taman Sri Nanding, Hulu Langat.
Three hour sit-in
The family are not satisfied that the autopsy report suggested that he died of a possible heart attack and have demanded that the federal government invite Pornthip to conduct the second autopsy.
As Pornthip is a Thai government official, there will be bureaucracy involved in bringing her here. She has indicated an interest in conducting the procedure.She was hired by the Selangor government in November 2009 to observe the second autopsy on Teoh Beng Hock and later testified at an inquest to determine the cause of his death.
Earlier today, there was a minor commotion when Sugumar's relatives, friends, the lawyers and some activists were barred from entering the health ministry headquarters.
Following this, the group held a three hour sit-in at the health ministry headquarters compound to demand a meeting with Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai or a high ranking official.
Eventually, ministry officials gave in and set up proceeded to meet them.
No comments:
Post a Comment