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Hunt for Yingluck begins (Updated Thursday)

27 กันยายน 2560

A fresh manhunt has begun for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she was found guilty in absentia of negligence in overseeing a failed rice subsidy scheme and sentenced to five years in prison

A fresh manhunt has begun for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she was found guilty in absentia of negligence in overseeing a failed rice subsidy scheme and sentenced to five years in prison

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Thursday morning update

Hunt resumes for Yingluck

Aekarach Sattaburuth and Om Jotikasthira

A fresh manhunt has begun for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she again failed to show up at a Bangkok court Wednesday and was handed a guilty verdict in absentia, meaning she will now face five years in jail should she ever return to Thailand.

The embattled former premier was on trial for failing to stop graft in her administration's government-to-government (G2G) rice stock sales.

National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said once police receive an order to enforce the court ruling they will seek a warrant for her arrest and coordinate with Interpol to track her down.

Wednesday night, the court issued the warrant.

The Royal Thai Police asked all 190 of Interpol's member states to determine Yingluck's whereabouts since Aug 25 but no trace of her has been found so far, said Pol Gen Chakthip.

Deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Interpol has yet to present any information showing that Yingluck is in the United Kingdom as some media have reported.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday he knows which country she is hiding in. He vowed to reveal where at an unspecified time after the verdict.

Wednesday 15:35 update

The leaks were accurate. Former Prime Minister Ms Yingluck has been found guilty in absentia of negligence in overseeing a failed rice subsidy scheme and sentenced to five years in prison. Her sentence was not suspended.

Here is more from our online reporters

Ms Yingluck is believed to have fled the country last month before the court session on Aug 25 at which the verdict initially was to have been delivered.

She has said the charges are politically motivated.

Her brother also led an elected government that was ousted by the military and lives in exile to avoid a jail term for conflict of interest while prime minister.

(16:30) Some specifics from our online reporters

The court stated that Yingluck had been aware of corruption in government-to-government (G2G) deals with some Chinese state enterprises because House representatives had raised the issue during their no-confidence debates and she had removed Boonsong Teriyapirom from the commerce minister's position on June 30, 2013. Boonsong supervised G2G rice deals.

However, it said, Yingluck failed to stop the delivery of rice under so-called G2G deals which let corruption in those deals continue. The failure was tantamount to dishonest dereliction of duty in violation of the Criminal Code and the anti-corruption law, which justified the five-year jail term.

The court described how the G2G deals with Chinese state enterprises – Guangdong Stationery & Sporting Goods Import & Export Corp and Hainan Grain & Oil Industrial Trading Co – enabled local rice traders to dishonestly obtain the pledged rice from her government and benefit from it.

The court also said that traders involved in previous corrupt rice trading and an assistant to a former MP from her Pheu Thai Party represented the Chinese state enterprises in the rice deals.

The court did not hold Yingluck responsible for other corrupt activities and losses related to the rice scheme, including fake reports on pledged rice as well as rice losses and deterioration, because those were the responsibilities of officials at operational levels.

The court dismissed her claim that the National Anti-Corruption Commission had no authority to examine her role in the rice-pledging scheme.

14:45 Update

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions began reading the verdict at 11:00am and it was still not finished by 2pm. There have been several stories announcing the verdict in the Thai-language media based on apparent leaks from inside the courtroom, but they have not been confirmed.

Morning story

Yingluck verdict today

Former Prime Minister Ms Yingluck faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of negligence over a costly rice subsidy scheme that helped to bring her to power in a 2011 general election. The verdict is to be delivered today, Wednesday, Sep 27.

Thai television reports say the verdict will likely be read sometime after 11am.

Meanwhile, Ms Yingluck's lawyer Norrawit Larlaeng said outside the Supreme Court this morning that he has had no contact with his client since she reportedly fled the country late last month. He said he did not know where she is.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha apparently has better sources, however. He said on Tuesday that he knows where the ousted former prime minister is but will not disclose her location until after the verdict is delivered.

Ms Yingluck disappeared from Thailand shortly before a Supreme Court verdict scheduled on Aug 25. Her lawyer said she was ill with an ear problem and could not appear in court.

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