BANGKOK: Thailand’s Supreme Court on Monday issued arrest warrants for ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife after they skipped bail and fled to Britain. Thaksin said he would not return to Thailand to face graft charges but will instead remain in exile in Britain, blaming political interference in the justice system.
Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon turned politician, and his wife Pojaman both face a raft of corruption charges that were instigated by a military junta which overthrew him in September 2006. After 18 months in self-imposed exile, Thaksin vowed to fight the charges against him in a high-profile homecoming in February, but said Monday he could not do that from within Thailand.
“My wife and I will stay in England where democracy is more important,” the 59-year-old former premier said in a hand-written statement released to the media. “What happened to me and my family and my close relations resulted from efforts to get rid of me from politics.”
Thaksin, who was first elected in 2001, accused unnamed foes of “interfering in the justice process ... by the group of people who see me as their political enemy.” The former premier and his wife were in China over the weekend for the opening of the Beijing Olympics, and rumours had circulated in Thailand that they would remain overseas as the graft cases mounted against them. Pojaman was convicted on July 31 of tax evasion and released on bail, and the couple had been ordered to appear before the Supreme Court on Monday to defend themselves in a separate property case.
A former legal advisor close to Thaksin said they had both now flown to Britain, where Thaksin has a home and has spent most of his time since the coup. “I expected everything would be better, that I might have a chance to prove my innocence and receive a fair trial when I returned to Thailand,” Thaksin said in the statement.
