Thailand's fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra has been found guilty of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison by the Thai Supreme Court. In a landmark ruling, he was found to have violated conflict of interest rules in helping his wife buy land from a state agency at a knock-down price. The couple fled to the UK in August, saying they would not get a fair trial. The decision comes amid growing tension between the former leader's supporters and his opponents. The ruling is the first in a string of stalled and slow-moving cases against Thaksin, former owner and now honorary chairman of Manchester City Football Club, launched in the wake of the 2006 military coup. The coup leaders claimed there had been massive corruption and abuse of power under Thaksin's rule, and set up a special unit to investigate the business dealings of the former leader and his close associates. His wife, Pojaman, was convicted of tax evasion in July and sentenced to three years in jail but was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the current case. Political tensions The nine-member court ruled by five to four that Thaksin had violated the constitution in involving himself in the land deal. "Thaksin had violated the article of the constitution on conflict of interest, as he was then prime minister and head of government who was supposed to work for the benefit of the public," one judge said as he read the verdict. The case stems from Pojaman's purchase in an auction of about 13 acres (five hectares) of prime land in central Bangkok in 2003 for 772 million baht ($22.4m). The land was bought from the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), a government agency that had been set up to bail-out debt-ridden banks. The FIDF had taken ownership of the land in 1995 to cover the losses of the collapsed Erawan Trust. Prime ministers and their spouses are barred from doing business with government agencies. Thaksin, who was prime minister from 2001-2006, said the charges were politically motivated and that he had expected the Supreme Court to sentence him, Reuters news agency reported. He told Reuters he was not seeking asylum in the UK. The chief prosecutor in the case said he wanted Britain to "quickly extradite" Thaksin. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7681416.stm
Thai ex-PM guilty of corruption
Ousted Thai PM Thaksin guilty of corruption
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A Thai court has found deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty of corruption, and sentenced him in absentia to two years imprisonment. Thaksin Shinawatra lives in self-imposed exile in London. The case stemmed from a Bangkok land deal while Thaksin was in office. He was convicted of violating a law that bans ministers or their wives from conducting business with government agencies. Thaksin, who now lives in the United Kingdom, is unlikely to serve any jail time. He fled from Thailand in August just as he was to appear in court. In the land deal, Thaksin's wife, Pojama, is accused of using her husband's political influence to buy undeveloped land from a government agency for about a third of its estimated value. The case is one of several corruption cases against Thaksin and his family that are winding their way through the legal system. The billionaire is accused of abusing the country's system of checks and balances and bending government policy to benefit his family's business. Thaksin has consistently denied that he or his family was involved in any wrongdoing. In August, Thaksin and his wife skipped a court appearance and fled to the United Kingdom rather than testify in the real-estate case. He said he did so because he did not think he would get a fair trial in Thailand. Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, once owned the English Premier League Manchester City Football Club but sold his stake this year. His party won two landslide victories before he was deposed in a bloodless military coup in September 2006 after massive anti-government street protests. He returned to Thailand after his allies in the People Power Party won nearly half the seats in the lower house in December's parliamentary elections and formed the ruling coalition. In recent weeks, the country has seen daily demonstrations from anti-government protesters who want PPP leaders purged from the Cabinet. They have laid siege to the Government House -- the seat of the Thai government -- since August 26. The protesters -- led by the People's Alliance for Democracy -- contend that the PPP is trying to amend the constitution so Thaksin does not have to face charges. In September, Thailand's Constitutional Court stripped then-Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of his position, ruling that he had violated the constitution by appearing as a paid guest on a television cooking show. The PPP responded by picking Thaksin's brother-in-law as Samak's replacement -- further inflaming the protesters. Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/21/thailand.thaksin/index.html
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