12 November 2015•Update: 12 November 2015
By Max Constant
BANGKOK
A former prime minister has called on Thailand's junta chief to grant her a "fair trial" in relation to $15.8 billion losses the country suffered due to a rice-subsidies scheme during her rule between 2011 and 2014.
Yingluck Shinawatra posted an open letter to junta chief-cum-prime minister Prayut Chan-ocha on her Facebook page Wednesday asking him to take her to court instead of using an administrative order to seize her assets.
"I insist I am innocent and I am ready to prove it," wrote Shinawatra. "Rushing the legal process limits my chances to defend my position to the best of my legal abilities, which goes against basic human rights."
Her letter, the second she has written to Chan-ocha calling for a trial since mid-October, was widely shared on the Internet.
Between 2011 and the May 22, 2014 coup which overthrew her government, Shinawatra’s administration initiated a rice-subsidies scheme which bought rice from farmers at twice the market price with the stated objective of improving their income.
The Thai Finance Ministry estimated that the losses to the state caused by the scheme amounted to $15.8 billion, while her opponents also criticized the subsidies program as riddled with corruption.
On Oct. 12, Deputy Prime Minister Vishnu Krua-ngam had indicated that the junta was going to issue an administrative order to seize Shinawatra’s assets as compensation for the losses.
"In the case of an official causing losses to the state, the prime minister can take, after an administrative process, an executive order leading to compensation for the damages," Krua-ngam said. "There is no need for a court to intervene in this process."
Krua-ngam also added that she would always be able to challenge the order at the administrative court if she considers it to be unfair.
On Oct. 31, in a sign that the junta was not as confident about the case as it publicly claims, it published an order in the Royal Gazette extending an amnesty to anyone assigned by the authorities to investigate various rice-subsidies schemes from 2005-2011.
"This decree is judicial cover for the officials in charge of the investigation against Yingluck," a Thai legal expert -- who asked not to be identified because he holds an official position -- told Anadolu Agency.
"They are afraid of being themselves prosecuted if it is considered, at the end, that Yingluck is not responsible in this case."
"It is possible that Yingluck herself would start legal proceedings if the case against her fails," he added.
Last January, Shinawatra was retroactively impeached from her position as prime minister by the military-appointed National Assembly for dereliction of duty because she did not stop the scheme despite the financial losses and corruption allegations.
Last February, a criminal case for negligence was filed against her also in relation to the same rice-subsidies scheme. She is liable to a maximum jail term of ten years.
Shinawatra is the sister of deposed former premier and junta nemesis Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed by a military coup in 2006 and is in self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges.
The Shinawatras are widely supported within 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.
