Former Thai PM Yingluck to face criminal corruption charge: attorney general

[webfact]

Former Thai PM to face criminal corruption charge: attorney general
Bangkok, Thailand | AFP |

BANGKOK: -- Former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra will be indicted on a criminal corruption charge over her controversial rice subsidy scheme, a senior prosecutor said Friday, a prospect that could see her jailed for up to ten years.

"The Attorney General's Office has considered witnesses and evidence submitted by the working team along with all witnesses and evidence from the National Anti-Corruption Committee and we agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck," Surasak Threerattrakul, Director-General of the Office of the Attorney General, said.

Yingluck, the kingdom's first female premier and the sister of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, is already facing an impeachment vote later Friday over her administration's populist rice subsidy programme, which funnelled cash to her rural base but cost billions of dollars and inspired protests that felled her government.

If found guilty by the junta-stacked parliament hearing her impeachment case, she faces a five-year ban from politics -- a move that already risks reigniting the country's bitter divisions.

Prosecutors had spent months deciding whether she should also face separate criminal corruption charges over the scheme which purchased rice from farmers at around twice the market rate -- a policy that has led to huge unsold stockpiles as regional competitors undercut Thailand's exports.

Surasak said the indictment is expected in early March.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-01-23

[sjjmmi]

[binjalin]

she may leave, which is what they want

Edited January 23, 2015 by binjalin

[chooka]

Now it goes before the court to consider if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial. This could be dragged out for years and the defence will now be able to call all thier witnesses.

[steven100]

good job ...... she cost the country billions ... karma at it's best !!

[Costas2008]

I don't like Yingluck, not because of herself, after all she is a not so bright, presentable lady, an ideal woman in my opinion, but for the damage she has caused to her country as a PM.

I don't think she will ever go to jail and I don't wish so, but this will be a good warning to all future politicians attempting to bribe the nation for their own benefit.

[Thailand]

That would be the route to reconciliation- not!

[Cuchulainn]

Jail this corrupt puppet.

[LuckyLew]

I don't like Yingluck, not because of herself, after all she is a not so bright, presentable lady, an ideal woman in my opinion, but for the damage she has caused to her country as a PM.

I don't think she will ever go to jail and I don't wish so, but this will be a good warning to all future politicians attempting to bribe the nation for their own benefit.

Sure is a good warning, have lots of money stashed in off shore accounts and keeo your suitcase packet and the private jet gased up

[hathairat2711]

The very first thing that should be actioned, is to take away her passport(s).

Will they? I doubt it.

[slapout]

Yingluck was just one of many who were not qualified to be ampur dog catcher, much less Prime Minister of Thailand. She was what some term, cannon fodder used by her brother in his quest to enrich himself further, his extended family and various cronies.

Another case of putting someone into a position/station that they had absolutely no training to handle/oversee. It has been said of these types, promoted to their level of incompitence, in this case probably a new level never reached nor probable of ever reaching again.

[Gunna]

That would be the route to reconciliation- not!

Reconciliation without getting rid of corrupt politicians is pointless

[AGareth2]

no political bias here

[chooka]

good job ...... she cost the country billions ... karma at it's best !!

Don't pop the corks yet, she hasn't been committed to stand trial.

[NeverSure]

The very first thing that should be actioned, is to take away her passport(s).

Will they? I doubt it.

Sorry I can't remember the specifics. Didn't Thaksin get a passport from another country? The Maldives maybe? >>

[halloween]

she may leave, which is what they want

What! The epitome of style, elegance and grace under pressure may skip bail like a common criminal?

OTOH why not. She comes from a family of common criminals.

[webfact]

Thai ex-PM Yingluck facing jail on top of impeachment threat

Bangkok | AFP |

BANGKOK: -- Embattled former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra faces up to ten years in prison after prosecutors Friday said they will indict her on corruption charges over a controversial rice subsidy scheme -- a move that risks reigniting the country's bitter divisions.

Yingluck, the kingdom's first female premier and the sister of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, is already facing an impeachment vote later Friday over the populist programme, which funnelled cash to her rural base but cost billions of dollars and inspired protests that felled her government.

She was toppled from office by a controversial court ruling shortly before the army staged a coup in May. If found guilty by the junta-stacked parliament hearing her impeachment case, she faces a five-year ban from politics.

Experts say the impeachment and criminal charges are the latest attempt by the country's royalist elite, and its army backers, to nullify the political influence of the Shinawatras, whose parties have won every election since 2001.

But the junta's pursuit of the Shinawatras could also disturb the uneasy calm that has descended on Thailand since the military took over.

Prosecutors had spent months deciding whether Yingluck should face separate criminal corruption charges over her subsidy scheme, which purchased rice from farmers at around twice the market rate -- a policy that has led to huge unsold stockpiles as regional competitors undercut Thailand's exports.

"We agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck," Surasak Threerattrakul, Director-General of the Office of the Attorney General, said Friday, adding that an indictment is expected in early March.

- Loathed by the elite -

Both Thaksin and Yingluck are loathed by many Thais in the upper and middle classes, but still command huge loyalty from much of the rural poor -- particularly in the Shinawatras' northern strongholds, where rice farming is a mainstay of the local economy, in what is one of the world's largest rice exporters.

During the impeachment hearings Yingluck defended the rice scheme as a necessary subsidy to help poor farmers who historically receive a disproportionately small slice of government cash.

She also attacked the legality of impeaching someone from a position that she had already been removed from.

A successful impeachment needs three-fifths of the 220-strong assembly to vote in favour.

Analysts say it is unlikely that the NLA -- which is stacked with junta appointees -- will save Yingluck's political career.

A yes vote also risks enraging her family's 'Red Shirt' supporters, who have laid low since the coup.

Prominent protest leaders from the movement have warned against supporters hitting the streets given that public gatherings are currently banned under martial law.

"But in the medium to longer term, the grievances within the Yingluck/Thaksin side will accumulate and become more virulent when they eventually surface," Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, told AFP.

Equally, a refusal by the NLA to impeach Yingluck could mobilise the same upper and middle class Thais who led the protests that eventually toppled her government.

Junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha has warned against any faction hitting the streets.

Since Thaksin swept to power in 2001, Shinawatra governments have been floored by two coups and bloodied by the removal of three other premiers by the kingdom's interventionist courts.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-01-23

[Thailand]

That would be the route to reconciliation- not!

Reconciliation without getting rid of corrupt politicians is pointless

y

Surely you are not naive enough to think the current bunch don't have their fingers in the various pies?

[webfact]

Thai attorney general's office to indict ex-PM Yingluck

BANGKOK (AP) — The office of Thailand's attorney general on Friday announced plans to indict former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars and temporarily cost Thailand its place as the world's leading exporter.

The announcement comes the same day as Thailand's junta-appointed legislature is due to vote on whether to impeach Yingluck for the subsidy program, a move which would ban her from politics for five years.

Yingluck and her supporters see the charges as part of an effort to deal a final blow to her party's political power after protests crippled her government last year, leading to a military coup in May. But analysts say it may only end up dividing a nation that has been plagued by political turmoil and coups for the last decade.

Surasak Threerattrakul, director general of the attorney general's Department of Investigation, said Friday that Yingluck will face criminal charges for negligence of duty as a state official. No date has been set for the formal indictment, but if charged, Yingluck faces 10 years in jail.

Surasak told reporters at a news conference in Bangkok that the attorney general had examined evidence and testimony against Yingluck "and found that the case was complete enough to prosecute."

In July, Thailand's Anti-Corruption Commission recommended criminal charges be filed against Yingluck for the subsidy program, which paid the farmers double the market price for rice. The program was a flagship policy that helped Yingluck's government win power in 2011, with Yingluck saying the scheme would directly benefit Thai farmers and reduce the income equality gap in the country.

Impeachment requires a three-fifths vote of the members, almost all of whom are part of the military or political opponents of Yingluck and the governments allied with her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

"Despite the warnings against it on several occasions, the prime minister, who should have stopped the damage, instead insisted on running the program until the damage became even more devastating," National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Wicha Mahakhun told lawmakers Thursday.

Yingluck, who appeared before Parliament on Thursday, denied she was responsible for any corruption associated with it. She also questioned the fairness of the investigation by the anti-corruption commission.

"The rice subsidy scheme was run by groups of people. It was a resolution of the Cabinet ... but why am I singled out?" Yingluck asked. "To bring the case against me alone, therefore, shows a hidden agenda under an unjust practice, and is a political agenda."

She also said the anti-corruption commission lacked the legitimacy to judge her because the junta terminated the constitution.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-01-23

[ratcatcher]

Reform, reconciliation and happiness are just pointless words aren't they. Her primary crime is being elected by those "buffalos" who dared to think they may be entitled to a voice in their own country.

And please, no Chang fuelled barroom theorising or claims that she wasn't elected. Only a fool would claim such (although these forums seem to host a few who claim so over and over).

No, her primary crime was believing for one second that with zero experience, she could be the Prime Minister of Thailand.

Ego, stupidity, greed, coercion...whatever it was that made her make that ridiculous decision sealed her fate.

It was doomed from the beginning. Anyone that believes that just because she was "democratically" elected somehow gave her superpowers to be PM is a fool.

A housewife as PM. Really? Clownshoes.

Housewives and soldiers don't really make a good P.M. One cries under pressure and the other throws temper tantrums and spits the dummy. Both should still be at creche together as politics is way out of thier league.

"Housewives and soldiers don't really make a good P.M."

Housewife. Soldier

Edited January 23, 2015 by ratcatcher

[daveAustin]

And please, no Chang fuelled barroom theorising or claims that she wasn't elected. Only a fool would claim such (although these forums seem to host a few who claim so over and over).

Oh, she was 'elected' alright. But if you call buying of votes and coercion as actually being elected, then more fool you.

Whatever happens here, idea is to make it so she cannot be a part of the junta's new and improved 'democratic' Thailand.

[Mango Bob]

The timing of this announcement couldn't be better. Pile it on Junta I am sure reconciliation is going well right now.

[AGareth2]

reconciliation?

[halloween]

The timing of this announcement couldn't be better. Pile it on Junta I am sure reconciliation is going well right now.

They are prosecuting criminals just now, not sucking up to their supporters.

[Bakseeda]

I'll take that as a vote that you think the current leader should also be jailed - didn't the the NYT just publish an assessed loss of $15 billion as a result of the coup? Far more than the policies she took to the country and got a mandate for.

Why should anyone believe the New York Times... and just for your knowledge Snig, one cannot lose moneys that one did not have in the first place.. so, who made the assessment...you..? Go take a look in the mirror and you should agree with me that your time could be better spent ...

[djjamie]

she may leave, which is what they want

No no..

Remember your peers said she is brave, honorable, holds her head high, a true leader, facing her condemners with dignity and will face these charges like a lady!! Remember? I do.

Your right though. She will do the shinawatra shuffle.

And if she doesn't your peers will be all over me like white on rice sating "See jamie you are wrong. She was brave, honorable, held her head high, a true leader, faced her condemners with dignity and faced these charges like a lady" If she does it will be "The Junta wanted that" or "The Junta gave her no choice". What ever she does you have all your bases covered.

Run away. Run away!

Edited January 23, 2015 by djjamie

[animatic]

Thai ex-PM Yingluck facing jail on top of impeachment threat

Bangkok | AFP |

BANGKOK: -- Embattled former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra faces up to ten years in prison after prosecutors Friday said they will indict her on corruption charges over a controversial rice subsidy scheme -- a move that risks reigniting the country's bitter divisions.

... During the impeachment hearings Yingluck defended the rice scheme as a necessary subsidy to help poor farmers who historically receive a disproportionately small slice of government cash...

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-01-23

Help get a piece of GOVERNMENT MONEY.

This means they are syphoning money to a segment that votes their way.

They could have passed a law saying:

the rice farmers get 25% of whatever their rice sells for at market.

That means the rice farmers get more money per ton.

Not the rice millers and distribution / storage network middlemen,

who are the people that control the voting blocks in this segment of the populace.

You can't make a global pay back to the people who get you elected,

if you allow the money to be directed at the people who don't work to get you elected,

except this manipulated pawns of the local millers. Sadly they didn't even get them the

paultry amount they were owed.Which shows how grossly mismanaged and fundamentally

flawed the who rice pledging scheme was, is, and will always be.

Is Thailand's tax base intended for distribution to individuals who vote,

or for doing the global infrastructure and administrative tasks the nation requires done?

Edited January 23, 2015 by animatic

[djjamie]

The very first thing that should be actioned, is to take away her passport(s).

Will they? I doubt it.

Wont matter. Suropong will have a back up passport for her in his shinawatra "Run away" files.

[webfact]

OAG decides to indict Ms Yingluck



BANGKOK: -- The attorney-general has decided to indict former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra with dereliction of duty regarding the rice pledging scheme as recommended by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

Attorney-General Trakul Vinithaipark’s decision to proceed with the case against Ms Yingluck to the Supreme Court’s criminal division for political office holders was announced this morning at a press conference held at the Office of the Attorney-General.

The announcement of the AG’s decision came about an hour before the National Legislative Assembly was due to vote to impeach or not to impeace Ms Yingluck, former House speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont and former Senate speaker Nikhom Wairachpanich.

Mr Surasak Trirattrakul, director-general of the OAG’s investigating office, told the media that the joint panel of the OAG and the NACC had agreed that collection of evidences pertaining to the case was completed for submission to the attorney-general for his final decision.

He said that the attorney-general had found that the evidences were sufficient to indict Ms Yingluck for w of duty in accordance with Article 157 of the Criminal Code and the NACC Act B.E. 2542.

The case file is 4,000 pages thick, said Mr Surasak who insisted that the OAG has been fair to all parties concerned.

For the next step, he said a panel would be formed to draft the indictment. And this process is expected to be completed in March.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/oag-decides-indict-ms-yingluck


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-23

[than]

Bye Bye Yingluck