Ex-PM denounces Thai justice system
‘Tyrannical’: Thaksin
BANGKOK, Aug 30, (Agencies): Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday made his first public comment since his sister fled the country last week, breaking a long silence with a Twitter post that appeared to denounce the Thai justice system as tyrannical.
Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, 50, whose government was ousted by the military in 2014, disappeared from Thailand last week, shortly before a Supreme Court verdict in a negligence case against her.
Former premier Yingluck had faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
In his comment on Twitter, Thaksin quoted the 18th century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu.
“Montesquieu once said ‘There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice’,” Thaksin said on his official Twitter page.
The post, which appeared in both English and Thai, was his first on that page since 2015. The message was retweeted more than 1,000 times within 40 minutes.
Former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile to avoid a 2008 graft conviction he says was politically motivated.
Yingluck disappeared ahead of the court verdict last Friday in her trial for negligence over a costly rice subsidy scheme that helped to bring her to power in a 2011 general election.
Abuse
She was forced to step down days before a May 2014 coup against her government, after a court found her guilty of abuse of power in connection with a civil service posting.
Supporters of Yingluck and Thaksin have accused the courts of bias in frequent ruling against the Shinawatras and their allies.
Last week, junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government had no influence over the courts.
Thaksin re-shaped Thai politics after a building business empire, winning staunch support with populist policies that raised living standards, especially among the rural poor, and propelled him or his loyalists to victory in every election since 2001.
But Thaksin also posed a challenge to the royalist military establishment, which denounced him as corrupt, setting up a struggle that has defined Thai politics for most of the past 15 years.
His seemingly defiant post on Twitter will be viewed with interest on both sides of the divide.
Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, declined to comment on Thaksin’s post.
In March, Thaksin accused the ruling junta in a Facebook post of bullying him over a $500 million tax bill and said he could be ruled out of any reconciliation efforts.
Yingluck has accused the military government of political persecution. She pleaded innocent to the negligence charge against her.
Meanwhile, fugitive former premier Yingluck Shinawatra discarded her mobile phones and stopped travelling in her usual vehicles in the days before last week’s dramatic escape, Thailand’s army chief said Tuesday, as her party vowed to fight on.
Trial
Yingluck, whose government was toppled by the military in 2014, staged a disappearing act before a scheduled court judgement last Friday in a criminal negligence trial.
She faced up to ten years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics if convicted. But instead she was a no-show, with junta and party sources saying she had fled abroad.
Thailand’s junta has come under fire from some conservative allies over Yingluck’s disappearance, with many questioning how the authoritarian regime could have let her flee given that she was heavily monitored.
Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisad gave a lengthy defence on Tuesday, which offered insights into how military intelligence kept track of Yingluck and how she might have slipped the net.
“As of now we learnt that she abandoned all of her phones and changed her cars so it was hard to trace her using the same methods we did before,” he told reporters, confirming military intelligence had previously used electronic and physical surveillance.
But Chalermchai said officers had recently been withdrawn from guarding the front of her Bangkok house.
“The public alleged that it was violating her personal rights and intimidating her so we withdrew the force,” he said.
Yingluck frequently complained of being constantly followed by military intelligence since she was ousted from office.
In its first statement since her disappearance, Yingluck’s Pheu Thai Party vowed to stay together and push for a democratic Thailand despite losing its figurehead.