Ex-Thai PM Yingluck sues attorney general over rice case

By CS Thana

BANGKOK

 Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has struck back at a system supporters claim is out to remove her and her family from politics, filing charges Tuesday against the Office of the Attorney General (AG) claiming "concerted efforts to cause damage" to her person. 

Shinawatra claimed Tuesday that the AG had indicted her in a corruption probe without sufficient evidence, filing charges which were not part of the National Anti-Corruption Commission findings and presenting evidence in court that was not part of the investigation process.

She is currently facing both a criminal corruption charge and a charge of malfeasance over a rice subsidy plan put in place by her government, which critics say was rife with corruption.

On Tuesday, she told reporters that she believed it was necessary for her to file the charges as she had to "protect herself" from procedures that were not in line with the law.

Shinawatra was impeached from office in April 2014 by courts for negligence leading to corruption within the rice subsidy scheme, which is said to have resulted in huge losses of public money and led to large-scale corruption.

The 47-year-old is accused of failing to stop the scheme, which bought rice from farmers at 40 percent above the market price.

The subsequent caretaker government was overthrown by a military coup that usurped power citing the need to calm political tensions and reform the country. 

A military-appointed legislative body then retroactively impeached Shinawatra for malfeasance, which led to criminal corruption charges.

Shinawatra is the sister of deposed former premier and junta nemesis Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed by a military coup and is in self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges.

Critics of the Shinawatra family argue that the various Thaksin-aligned administrations are merely proxies for the former premier and full of corrupt practices. 

The Thaksin-aligned factions are widely supported by the rural population, who enjoyed prosperity under various populist schemes put in place by Thaksin, including universal healthcare and subsidy schemes.

Critics, however, claim such schemes have bankrupted the nation. 

In November, the Thai finance ministry said losses had run to the equivalent of $15.8 billion since July 2011, when Yingluck was elected prime minister in a landslide vote.