Thai ex-PM to face criminal charges, possible jail term
Former Thai Premier Yingluck Shinawatra will face criminal charges and a possible prison time over a controversial rice subsidy scheme, authorities say.
The embattled former prime minister will face criminal indictment charges in Thailand’s Supreme Court in early March, the Attorney General's Office said on Friday.
The charges address her role in the management of a rice subsidy program that led to widespread corruption.
“We agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck,” said Surasak Threerattrakul, Director-General of the Office of the Attorney General.
She faces up to ten years in prison if found guilty of the charges, prosecutors said.
The rice subsidy, which paid farmers up to 50 percent above market rates for the grain, was criticized for punching a hole in Thai finances, battering the rice industry and fostering massive corruption, with opponents accusing Yingluck of using it to shore up her rural electoral base.
Yingluck is also facing an impeachment vote later on Friday over the program, which cost billions of dollars and inspired protests that led to the downfall of her government.
The kingdom’s first female premier was removed from office on May 7 for assigning a family member to a senior government post.
The government was then overthrown by a military coup on May 22.
Yingluck has always maintained her innocence and questioned whether the investigation, conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), has met international standards.
Thailand has been the scene of a political crisis since the 2006 military coup that deposed Yingluck’s elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire tycoon-turned-populist politician, who clashed with the then royalist establishment.
GMA/NN
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