Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said Thursday her evidence proved that the state’s fear on the safety of its government officials during interrogation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is not totally unfounded.

Dr Porntip, who testified on Wednesday at the inquest into Teoh’s death, had said that there is an 80% probability that Teoh’s death was homicide, and 20% suicide.

She also suggested that the late political secretary to state executive councilor Ean Yong could have been strangled before falling from the 14th floor of the Plaza Masalam building here.

Teoh, 30, was found dead on the 5th floor of the building on July 16, a day

after he was questioned by MACC over alleged misuse of state funds by state executive councilors.

Head injuries caused by blunt object

Dr Pornthip also testified that Teoh’s  head injuries was the result of blunt force applied directly to the skull  and  could have been strangled.

She also said that Teoh was alive but unconscious when he hit the roof where his body was found. According to Dr Pornthip, the tear in Teoh's anus was caused by an object forcefully inserted into him.

“We hope the relevant authorities will stury Dr Porntip’s evidence objectively to ensure that justice is served,” Khalid said Thursday.

“Given her experience in investigating complicated homicide and having performed more than 10,000 autopsies in the last 27 years, dr porntip’s evidence cannot be taken lightly,” he added.

The state government reiterate its call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death instead of just looking into the interrogation methods used on him by the MACC.

Suspend those who interrogated Teoh

Meanwhile, Klang MP Charles Santiago has also called for the immediate suspension of all anti-graft officers involved in interrogating Teoh as well as a Royal Commission of Inquiry to independently investigate the circumstances leading to Teoh's death.

“It is extremely disturbing to read about Dr Pornthip's findings relating to Teoh's death,” he said.

Santiago said Dr Pornthip's findings question the credibility of two previous pathologists, Khairul Aznam Ibrahim from the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang,and Prashant Naresh Samberkar, from the University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. They both had said Teoh committed suicide.

“Were the testimonies of Khairul and Prashant nipped and tucked to protect the anti-corruption officers responsible for Teoh's death?” he asked. “Or they could have testified under duress.”

“It is clear that the MACC was used as a tool by the Umno-led government to intimidate the opposition.

“Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak made it clear that he would wrestle Selangor back from the Pakatan Rakyat government. And in the process a young man is dead,” he alleged.

More than just Dr Porntip's observations

“There may be more to this tale than Dr Porntip's observations – in the form of an anonymous letter in Malay, on MACC stationery, accusing top anti-graft officer Hishamuddin Hashim of conspiring with former Selangor menteri besar Mohamad Khir Toyo to conduct corruption enquiries into opposition politicians.

“Clearly the upper echelon officers of MACC worked in cohorts to tarnish the credibility of Pakatan Rakyat politicians and topple the Selangor government.”

Santiago said Dr Pornthip's findings completely eroded the confidence in the anti-corruption agency.

He alleged said this was not the first time that the ruling Barisan Nasional government is trying to ignore deaths in custody.

He cited the case of  A Kugan Ananthan, which drew outrage when a video of his badly injured body surfaced. He died in police custody and his body bore severe lacerations, wounds and burn marks.

A policeman has been charged after eight months despite the multiple injuries sustained by Kugan, raised speculations that many more policemen were involved..

The policeman was charged with causing grievous hurt to Kugan to extort a confession, although the Attorney-General had earlier classified the case as murder.

According to statistics revealed in Parliament last year, there were a total of 1,535 custodial deaths in the country between 2003 and 2007.