THAILAND JUNTA FREEZES EX-PREMIER’S 7 BANK ACCOUNTS

BANGKOK— Thai authorities have frozen seven bank accounts of ex-Premier Yingluck Shinawatra over a $1-billion fine she faces for her administration’s controversial rice subsidy scheme, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Thailand’s first female prime minister, whose government was toppled in a 2014 coup, is already facing up to a decade in jail for allegedly failing to stop graft in the subsidy program.

Yingluck’s lawyer Noppadon Laowthong sought an injunction against the $1-billion fine which dwarfs the roughly $18 million she has in declared assets.

Yingluck turned to Twitter to insist on her innocence.

“I am ready to prove my innocence and that I have not done anything wrong in my closing statement,” she tweeted, refering to her trial.

The verdict is due Aug. 25.—

AFP STILL POPULAR Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra receives roses from supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court in Bangkok for a hearing of the negligence charges for which she was ousted in 2014.—