Former Thai Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison by the Thailand’s Supreme Court on Wednesday for negligence in preventing corruption and irregularities in a rice subsidy scheme.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders ruled that Yingluck had acknowledged the illegality of government-to-government rice deals but refused to cancel a contract with a Chinese state enterprise.
The court ruled that the deal involved ill-gotten gains and the dishonest discharge of official duties.
The statement from the court reads, “The defendant was found guilty of the alleged offences under Section 157 of the Criminal Code and Section 123/1 of the Organic Act on Counter Corruption 1999 and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment,”
The court will issue another arrest warrant against Yingluck, after an initial warrant was issued when she failed to appear before the court on August 25, when the verdict was originally scheduled to be read.
The ex-prime minister, Yingluck who has not attended court hearings, is believed to have gone into hiding overseas for a month.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters before the verdict that he knew where Yingluck was but would not give more details.
Yingluck’s elected government was toppled in a 2014 coup.
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