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Thaksin goes on trial in Thailand
last updated at 14:55 GMT, Tuesday, 8 July 2008

Mr Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006


The corruption trial of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has
begun in Bangkok, almost two years after he was overthrown in a coup.

Mr Thaksin and his wife face charges related to a Bangkok real estate deal.

The couple deny any wrongdoing, saying the charges of abuse of power against
them are politically motivated.

Meanwhile, a top member of the main party in the ruling coalition was found
guilty of electoral fraud. The ruling could lead to the party's dissolution.


The Supreme Court banned former House Speaker Yongyut Tiyapairat, of the
People Power Party (PPP), from politics for five years after finding he was
guilty of vote-buying in 2007.

The ruling will put more pressure on the PPP-led six-party governing
coalition, already weakened by accusations that it is too close to Mr
Thaksin.

Under Thai election law, the ruling against Mr Yongyut opens the way for the
Election Commission to investigate whether the whole party was guilty of
electoral fraud. It could then be disbanded.

Corruption claims

Mr Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire who owns the English football club
Manchester City, returned to Thailand in February after 18 months abroad.

The military ousted him in September 2006, accusing him of corruption and
abuse of power.

Mr Thaksin has since been living mostly in the UK, but his political allies
won democratic elections late last year, facilitating his return to
Thailand.

He, his family and his aides face a number of different allegations.
Millions of dollars of his assets have remained frozen since charges were
laid.

The case now before the Supreme Court relates to the purchase of a plot of
land in the Thai capital.

The former prime minister is accused of using his political influence to
help his wife buy the land from a state agency at a favourable price.

'Surprising tenacity'

The couple, who could face lengthy prison terms if convicted, did not attend
court, but their lawyer sounded a positive note.

"We are confident that our evidence will be enough to prove in the court
that Thaksin and his wife are not guilty," Anek Khamchum told the AFP news
agency.

But the courts have shown surprising tenacity in pursuing this first case,
says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

The government has tried to weaken the case by arguing that the
military-backed bodies which investigated Mr Thaksin had no legitimacy.

The courts have ignored that, and have even intervened to reverse other
government decisions.

Many observers in Thailand are calling this a judicial revolution - where
the courts are quietly being asked by the traditional elite to act as checks
on the power of elected governments.

Mr Thaksin's own prospects dimmed significantly when three of his lawyers
were jailed last month by the Supreme Court for offering a cash bribe in a
cake box, our correspondent adds.

At the very least, Mr Thaksin's chances of making a political comeback are
looking slim, our correspondent says.
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Nearly two years after coup, Thaksin goes on trial
July 8, 2008

The trial is expected to last two months, but in the meantime, the courts
will also tackle a series of other cases against Mr Thaksin's wife and
several of his loyalists.


BANGKOK - NEARLY two years after a coup, ousted Thai premier Thaksin
Shinawatra goes on trial on Tuesday on corruption charges, the first in a
raft of cases this month against his family and aides.

When royalist generals toppled his government in September 2006, they
accused Mr Thaksin of widespread corruption, undermining the nation's
democracy and insulting Thailand's revered king.

But the case actually before the Supreme Court is far less sweeping.

Mr Thaksin is accused of using his political influence to help his wife Ms
Pojaman buy a plot of prime Bangkok real estate from the central bank at a
sharply reduced price.

If convicted, Mr Thaksin and Ms Pojaman could face up to 13 years in prison.

Because the case is going directly to the Supreme Court, they would have no
avenue of appeal.

'We are confident that our evidence will be enough to prove in the court
that (Mr) Thaksin and his wife are not guilty,' their lawyer Mr Anek
Khamchum told AFP.

The trial is expected to last two months, but in the meantime, the courts
will also tackle a series of other cases against Mr Thaksin's wife and
several of his loyalists - including the former speaker of parliament and
serving cabinet ministers.

The legal drama is unfolding against a political backdrop that echoes the
political instability that rattled Thailand in the run-up to the coup.

Mr Thaksin's handpicked successor PM Samak Sundaravej led his supporters to
victory in December elections, ending more than a year of military rule.

But just five months into his government, Prime Minister Samak faces street
protests led by the same royalist activists who had targeted Mr Thaksin in
the months before the putsch.

The Supreme Court has already clipped Mr Thaksin's wings ahead of the trial.

More than two billion dollars of his assets have been frozen, while the
court has rejected a request from him to travel to China and Britain, where
he owns Manchester City football club.

Three of his top lawyers were also jailed last month over claims they tried
to bribe a judge with cash stuffed into a box of sweets.

But the legal mess is also bogging down the current government, which is
stacked with many close Mr Thaksin aides.

Mr Thaksin confidante Mr Yongyut Tiyapairat had been voted the new speaker
of parliament but survived less than three months over claims of vote fraud.
The Supreme Court is set to rule on that case on Tuesday.

The health minister is in the dock over a share scandal, while the finance
and labour ministers are defending themselves in a lottery controversy.

At the end of July, a criminal court will also rule on tax evasion charges
against Mr Thaksin's wife.

Some hope that the court's verdicts will end more than two years of
political turmoil, if all the parties respect the results.

'The court is the only way out of the political crisis for both sides, if
they respect the judicial system,' said Mr Sukhum Chaeleysub of Suan Dusit
Rajabhat University.

But with Thai politics still starkly polarised, the eventual verdicts could
instead deepen the tensions, regardless of how the courts rule.

'I'm afraid that the political crisis will persist regardless of the
judicial decisions,' said Mr Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn
University.

'The judicial decisions will be seen in partisan terms. One side will see it
in a certain light, and the other side will see it in a different light.' --

AFP


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