Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra proclaimed her innocence Tuesday at the start of a trial that could
see her jailed for a decade.
The
ousted premier – who was removed from power shortly before last year’s coup
– appeared at Bangkok’s Supreme Court on
Tuesday to formally hear the charges against her of dereliction of duty in
overseeing a rice subsidy scheme that lost billions of dollars.
Critics
say the case is part of a politically motivated campaign against her family.
“I am
confident that I am innocent and I hope the court will give me justice and
allow everything to proceed in accordance with the law,” Yingluck said.
She was
granted bail at the brief hearing after pleading not guilty, on the condition
that she doesn’t leave the country without written permission. The next hearing
is due to take place on July 21.
Yingluck
was ousted from her post by a court decision that came two weeks before the
military staged a coup on May 22 last year.
The same
charges also led to her impeachment in January by the military-appointed
legislature, which banned her from politics for five years.
Her
brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted in a 2006 coup.
A group
of about 50 supporters, including members of Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party, defied
a ban on gatherings of more than five people to show their support outside the
court.
Thaksin,
meanwhile, told Reuters reporters in South Korea that he had no plans to
mobilize ‘red shirts’ in Thailand.
“I think
democracy will prevail sooner or later, but we have to be patient, and we have
to be peaceful,” he said while in Seoul to speak at a conference. “Don’t resort
to any kind of violence.”
He added
that the ruling junta’s first year in power was “not so impressive yet”.
Additional
reporting from Associated Press
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