Thais Seek Ex-PM After She Fails To Show for Verdict

Local Editor

Thailand has tightened border controls after former PM Yingluck Shinawatra failed to show up for the verdict in her trial over a rice subsidy scheme.

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan said it was possible she had already fled.

Lawyers for Yingluck, who is charged with negligence, said she was unable to attend court because she was ill.

But the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for her, confiscated her bail of $900,000 [£703,000] and delayed the verdict to 27 September.

Yingluck had 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, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said all routes out of the country were being closely monitored.

"I just learned that she did not show up [at court]," he told reporters. "I have ordered border checkpoints to be stepped up."

Prawit initially said he had no information on Yingluck's whereabouts but as he left a meeting in Bangkok he said: "It is possible that she has fled already."

Earlier, 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.

But an official Supreme Court statement said it 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.

"Such behavior convincingly shows that she is a flight risk. As a result, the court has issued an arrest warrant and confiscated the posted bail money," the statement said.

Friday's turn of events took many by surprise, including the hundreds of people who turned up outside the Supreme Court in Bangkok to support Yingluck.

Yingluck, who became Thailand's first female prime minister in 2011, was impeached in 2015 over the rice scheme by a military-backed legislature, which then brought the legal case.

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

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team