Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to accept a suit
filed against the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his
wife on a controversial land purchase in Bangkok in 2003.
The court scheduled the first hearing on August 14 for Thaksin
and his wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, to enter their plea.
The court ordered the public prosecutors to send a subpoena for
the two defendants within three days. If there is no one to receive
the subpoena, it would be posted on the house of the couple in
Bangkok.
The suit submitted by Office of the Attorney General filed
corruption charges against the couple, the first time criminal
charges have ever been filed against a former premier in the
kingdom.
The Office of the Attorney General's working group ruled that
the Bangkok land on Ratchadapisek Road, which changed hands from
the Financial Institutions Development Fund to Thaksin's wife,
could have raised as much as 2.1 billion baht (US$61.8 million) in
terms of then current property market levels, but eventually sold
for only 772 million (US$22.7 million), only one-third of the
market value when the purchase was made.
In addition, the Office of the Attorney General suggested the
five-hectare of controversial land be confiscated at the order of
the Supreme Court.
The couple are charged of breaching anti-corruption laws, which
bars state officials and their spouses from doing business with a
state agency. If convicted, they face imprisonment of up to three
years and a fine of up to 60,000 baht (US$1765), plus a maximum of
10 years in jail and a maximum 20,000 baht (US$588) fine for
malfeasance under the Criminal Procedures Code.
(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007)
