BANGKOK (ANN/THE NATION) – Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was acquitted by the Thai Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in the 2011 Thawil Pliensri transfer case on Tuesday.
The court also nullified an arrest warrant issued when Yingluck missed the trial last November.
The ruling concluded that Yingluck did not misuse her authority in the appointment of Pol Gen Priewphan Damapong as NSC chief after Thawil’s removal. This decision contradicts the 2014 Constitutional Court verdict that led to Yingluck’s removal as prime minister for alleged interference in government officials’ transfers.
Speculation about Yingluck’s return heightened on Monday, fueled by former deputy premier Wissanu Krea-ngam suggesting she might qualify for a royal pardon.
Her brother Thaksin received a royal pardon shortly after returning to Thailand on August 22, commuting his sentence from eight years to one.
Wissanu, a legal expert who has helped draft several constitutions, added that to be eligible for such clemency, she would first need to surrender to Thai authorities.
Yingluck was sentenced to five years in jail over her government’s contentious rice subsidy programme and also faces charges of unlawfully allocating THB240 million to the “Roadshow to Thailand’s Future Thailand 2020” project.
Yingluck fled the country in 2017, just before being found guilty of negligence over her government’s rice-pledging scheme. She denies all charges, calling them politically motivated in the wake of the 2014 military coup led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha that ousted her government.
