More good news for Thailand's Shinawatra family

Thêm tin vui cho gia tộc Shinawatra của Thái Lan - 1 — Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2016 (Photo: Reuters).

Specifically, the Supreme Court concluded that they found no wrongdoing in Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra's decision to change the position of Secretary General of the National Security Council in 2011.

The court said the decision was a normal job transfer, not a plot to put a relative of Ms. Yingluck in the position of director of the Thai national police.

The court also revoked an arrest warrant for Ms Yingluck, which was issued after she failed to appear in court in November 2022 to stand trial.

The recently dismissed accusation arose from the incident on September 30, 2011, when Ms. Yingluck, as Prime Minister of Thailand, signed an order to transfer Mr. Thawil Pliensri from the position of Secretary General of the National Security Council to the position of assistant to the prime minister.

The Thai cabinet later approved the appointment of General Wichean Potephosree, then national police chief, to replace Mr Thawil.

Next, Ms. Yingluck proposed appointing General Priewphan Damapong, then deputy national police chief and also a relative of hers, to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Wichean.

Mr. Priewphan is the brother of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-wife and Ms. Yingluck's biological brother.

After accepting Thawil's petition, Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court overturned the transfer order. The Constitutional Court also ruled that Yingluck had abused her power to interfere in the transfer of government officials.

In May 2014, the Constitutional Court removed Ms. Yingluck from her position as Prime Minister. Two weeks later, the leader was overthrown in a military coup.

On July 1, 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) concluded that Ms. Yingluck had been dishonest in her work and recommended that the Attorney General of Thailand file a lawsuit with the Criminal Court for those holding political positions, under the Supreme Court.

When Ms. Yingluck failed to appear in court for the first session in November 2022, the court issued an arrest warrant.

Yingluck, 56, has been out of Thailand since August 2017, when she failed to appear in court to receive a verdict on charges of negligence in a rice subsidy program that caused losses of at least 500 billion baht. She was eventually sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

Mr. Thaksin, Ms. Yingluck's brother, returned to Thailand on August 22 after more than 15 years in exile.

He was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison in three cases for abuse of power and conflict of interest while serving as Prime Minister before 2006. He was later pardoned by the Royal Family to one year in prison.

Since returning home, Mr Thaksin, 74, has spent only 12 hours in jail. He has since been transferred to a police hospital for two surgeries and continued treatment for a variety of ailments.

According to Nikkei , Ms. Yingluck still faces another arrest warrant related to criminal charges initiated by the NACC.

The NACC alleges misuse of public funds in the Yingluck administration's allocation of $6.9 million for the 2013-2014 infrastructure rollout program.

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