Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will not return to Thailand to face corruption charges this week as ordered by police because he fears for his safety, his lawyer said yesterday.

Thai officials said they will issue an arrest warrant for Thaksin if he does not have a valid reason for failing to appear in person by this Friday to hear the charges against him. He is accused of concealing his ownership of millions of dollars worth of shares from the Thai stock exchange.

"He will not return to answer the charges because of safety concerns and other reasons," said Noppadol Pattama, Thaksin's lawyer and de facto spokesman in Thailand. Thaksin was ousted while abroad, and has divided his time since then between a residence in London and travel around Asia.
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Earlier at a news conference, Noppadol said Thaksin would not return until after an election expected to be held in December because "the country is under the rule of the military who got power in an undemocratic way" and the investigations targeting him are unfair.

The military deposed Thaksin in a bloodless coup on September 19 last year after protests accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. One of the coup leaders' first acts was to initiate probes against Thaksin.

They installed an interim government, but retain power behind the scenes, while promising an election by December.

Personal security was another of Thaksin's concerns, Noppadol said. The military has repeatedly warned Thaksin that he should not return until after the polls, saying his presence could trigger political instability.

Earlier this month, army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratglin - who led the coup against Thaksin - said the former prime minister might be harmed by his enemies if he returned to Thailand now.

But Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters that the government would ensure Thaksin's safety if he returned.

"He will not return to the country even though the prime minister guarantees his safety because even Surayud is unable to guarantee the safety of people in the three southern provinces," Noppadol said, in an indirect criticism of the government for its failure to end a Muslim insurgency in Thailand's southernmost provinces.

The legal process against Thaksin will proceed regardless of whether he returns, said Sunai Manomaiudom, director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the US' FBI.

"If Thaksin demonstrates evasive behavior, we will have to issue an arrest warrant," he said. When the case is forwarded to state prosecutors, they can seek his extradition.

Extradition is generally a complicated legal procedure, and most Western countries are reluctant to agree to it in cases where there are political overtones that suggest the suspect is being unfairly persecuted.

(China Daily via agencies June 27, 2007)