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Published on October 5, 2007

"I am not worried," Pornthip said, explaining that her role in the prosecution was part of duties assigned to her by former justice minister Pongthep Thepkanjana.

"There are laws to protect me both from civil and criminal lawsuits in such cases," she said.

The acting director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science pointed out that if Noppadon actually took legal action, the Justice Ministry would be the defendant.

The Criminal Court acquitted Noppadol late last month in a murder retrial in which he was accused of murdering his brother Hangthong, then an MP, eight years ago. During the retrial, Pornthip was assigned to perform an autopsy and testified that Hangthong had been killed. Once the case was treated as a murder instead of a suicide, Noppadol became a prime suspect.

However, the Criminal Court said the testimony given during the retrial was not sufficient to rule that the victim was murdered.

Noppadol then threatened to sue Pornthip. "If I get the compensation, I will use all of it to support activities that prevent people from being framed and bullied," he said yesterday.

He also called on the Medical Council to expedite an ethics probe launched against Pornthip following his complaint against her last year.

The council said it expected to complete the probe this year.

The Nation