Thai Ex-PM Attends Supreme Court’s First Hearing on Rice Scandal

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, denying all charges in the first hearing of a case in which she is accused of malfeasance in a controversial rice-pledging scheme. Yingluck Shinawatra is charged with dereliction of duty as Prime Minister and abuse of authority under Section 157 of the Criminal Code and Section 123/1 of the 1999 Counter Corruption Act. She has been accused of failing to stop corruption in the rice subsidy scheme introduced by her government and incurring financial loss of up to 20 billion U.S. dollars. The case was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General, and if found guilty, Shinawatra could face a maximum jail term of 10 years. Despite a year out of the spotlight, Shinawatra can still draw a crowd. Supporters came out to cheer as she headed into the court on the first day of her criminal trial. Shinawatra was assured the process would be fair, telling media that she felt confident to present herself and believed everything would be followed by due process and rule of law. Her lawyer, Norawit Larlaeng, is equally confident. Having examined the charges against her, he feels there is not much of a case to answer, although he concedes that the average duration for a trial of this nature is about two years. “The Anti-Corruption Commission spent only 21 days on the investigation and questioned only three witnesses. They were in such a rush that the state attorney didn’t have documents or evidence to prove her guilt,“ said Larlaeng. During the hearing, Shinawatra listened to the charges and denied all of them. The court approved the request of Shinawatra’s lawyers to submit a complete statement prior to July 3. Shinawatra was released under bail worth about one million U.S. dollars. But she is prohibited from leaving the country pending court proceedings on the case. More hearings will be organized on July 21 and 28 to question witnesses and examine evidence provided by both the prosecutor and defendant. Shinawatra is required to attend the hearings in person or provide reasons for the court to approve if she cannot. More on: Subscribe us on Youtube: CCTV official website: LinkedIn: ? Facebook: Twitter: