Fugitive former Thai prime minister has arrest warrant issued against her by the courts.
Thailand's ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country ahead of a verdict in a negligence trial brought by the same junta that removed her from power. Yingluck, 50, whose family has dominated Thai politics for over 15 years, failed to appear at the trial centered on billions of dollars in losses caused by a rice subsidy scheme for farmers. Deposed in 2014, Yingluck would face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Reuters - Ousted Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country ahead of a verdict being read against her in a negligence trial brought by the same junta that removed her from power, sources close to the Shinawatra family said on Friday.
Yingluck, 50, whose family has dominated Thai politics for more than 15 years, failed to appear at the trial of a case centered on the billions of dollars in losses caused by a rice subsidy scheme for farmers.
Deposed in 2014, Yingluck would face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Her former trade minister was sentenced to 42 years in prison in a related case on Friday.
"She has definitely left Thailand," said a source who is also a member of her Puea Thai party. The sources did not say where Yingluck had gone.
Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who leads the political clan, was deposed in 2006 and went into exile to escape a corruption conviction, which he said was aimed at destroying the populist movement he founded.
The conflict between this movement and a pro-military monarchist elite centered in Bangkok has been at the heart of years of political turmoil in Thailand. The verdict against Yingluck could have reignited tensions, although the army has largely quelled the opposition.