Former Thai PM fails to turn up for verdict


Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has failed to show up for the verdict in her trial over a rice subsidy scheme.

Lawyers for Ms. Yingluck, who is charged with negligence, said she was ill.

The Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant for her and has delayed the verdict to 27 September.

She has denied any wrongdoing in the scheme which cost Thailand billions of dollars. 

If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to 10 years and permanently banned from politics.

On Friday, Ms. Yingluck's lawyer requested a delay in the ruling, telling the court that she had vertigo and a severe headache and was unable to attend.

Ms. Yingluck's time in office was overshadowed by controversy as well as strong political opposition.

The youngest sister of Mr. Thaksin, she was seen by her opponents as a proxy for her brother, who was controversially ousted by the military in 2006.

Both siblings remain popular among the rural poor, but are hated by an urban and middle-class elite.

Their Pheu Thai party has - under various different names - won every election in Thailand since 2001.

But an official Supreme Court statement said prosecutors opposed the request.

They said they did not believe she was sick as there was no medical certificate and that the claimed sickness was not severe enough that she could not travel to court. 

As a result, the court has issued an arrest warrant and confiscated the posted bail money," the statement said.

Ms. Yingluck posted $900,000 (£703,000) in bail at the start of the trial.

The possible fate of Thailand's first female prime minister had generated a great deal of debate and anxiety in the days leading up to this court hearing.

The military government had tried to prevent or discourage Ms. Yingluck's supporters from coming to the Supreme Court in Bangkok, for fear of an angry reaction should she be convicted and imprisoned.

Her failure to turn up for the verdict now presents the authorities with another dilemma - sending police to arrest her might also provoke unrest.

SOURCE: BBC News