Thaksin found guilty, two year jail sentence

Post by **buksida** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:08 pm

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to two years in jail for abusing power to facilitate a deal for his wife; Khunying Pojamarn, to buy a Bangkok land plot worth b772 million from the state.

However the Supreme Court on Holders of Political Office found Pojamarn not guilty and revoked an arrest warrant on her of this trial.

Thaksin was found guilty of violating articles 4, 100 and 122 of the National Counter Corruption Commission law which bar holders of public office and their spouses from entering into a contract with the state.

The Supreme Court ruled against Thaksin after reading the verdict for about two hours.

The Supreme Court ruled 5:4 to say that former prime minister Thaksin knew about his wife's purchasing of land from the Financial Institutions Development Fund.

With that knowledge, the court ruled Thaksin also carried out actions that constituted conflict of interest on part of Thaksin as a state official.

Before reaching the verdict, the Supreme Court said the Assets Examination Committee had the power to probe the Ratchadpisek land case against Thaksin and his wife.

The court dismissed claimed by Thaksin's defence lawyers that the AEC had no authority to probe case the because the AEC was not investigators and because the Financial Institutions Development Fund had not filed complaint regarding to the land purchase.

In addition, the court ruled that the AEC was empowered by the court orders to conduct graft probe against the former prime minister so it did not have to wait for the FIDF to file complaint first.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the Financial Institutions Development Fund is a state agency so there is ground for trial in the Ratchadapisek land case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife.

The court ruled down an agreement of Thaksin's defence team that the FIDF is not under state administration and that the Ratchadaphisek land purchase did not fall under Article 100 (3) of the National Counter Corruption Act, which covers state agencies.

Since the court ruled that the FIDF is state agency, the land purchase fell under the anti-graft act.

Source: The Nation

Thought: Two hopes of getting him back and one of them is Bob. Still interesting to see that he is effectively managing the government of the country that has just sentenced him ... only in Thailand.

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:42 pm

Yes Mr B, only in Thailand. Don't know if they'll ever get him back here though, Britain is not very good at sending people back like this, though I could be wrong but it's unlikely that the trend will be bucked. The extradition process is 'pedestrian' to say the least, sure he'll fight it all the way.

Think he(Thaksin) will do the wait and see approach, many things here in Thailand seem to be on the verge of change, not just politics. He might be a crook but he's fairly shrewd, I'll give him that, grudgingly.

Post by **sandman67** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:24 pm

seems the OAG are filing for his return via extradition.....

OAG to file Thaksin extradition request with UK

(BangkokPost.com) - The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) will immediately coordinate with the British authority to extradite ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand after the Supreme Court on Tuesday found him guilty in the Ratchadaphisek land deal case and sentenced him to two years imprisonment, according to Attorney-General's Special Litigation Department director-general Seksan Bangsombun.

"The prosecutors will soon make a copy of the court verdict and pass it on to Britain to quickly extradite him," Mr Seksan told reporters.

He said the court’s verdict will be transcribed into English and it will be forwarded to Britain.

However, the amount of time to bring back the former premier to Thailand would depend on the British authorities, not the Attorney-General, he said.

The OAG has formed a working body to work on this matter, he added.

so

we will expect the paperwork to be ready in...hmmmm.....5 years.

Post by **PeteC** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:33 pm

2 years and nothing for his wife is exactly what he may have wanted.

Did you read that the head of the Supreme Court had a bomb go off at his house last night? No one injured but it was an attempt, and a warning.

Mr. T knows exactly what he has to do to get a light sentence (defense loaded with technicalities surprising the judges and making them think what will happen on appeal=light sentence), then get released on good behaviour after a month, or verdict overturned by a future court that is more friendly to him and PPP.

He'll sit in the UK until all the cases against him are finished, then assess the sentences and proceed.

Time is on his side given the age of Gen. Prem and someone else dear to all of us. Once gone, he'll be parading down Sukhumvit unless some new General has some balls and ends it. Pete

Post by **buksida** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:27 pm

Pretty close to the mark there Pete, looks like President Thaksin has it all planned out ... then there will be protests and violence that make October 7 look like a school outing.

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:35 pm

Which Pete are you refering to Mr B, that's me aswell, so many Peter named people?

Post by **sandman67** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:49 am

Yeah i read about the bomb at the judges house......typical Thai style....the bloke is away on holiday.....so what did that prove then?

Im guessing theres a few people connected to DAAD or whatever the Thaksin Shok Troop call emselves that are currently washing their hands in Ammonia solutions or going for long swims in Chlorine filled public swimming pools....

ah no...this is Thailand....they will be eating noodles on Sukhumvit road next to a table full of coppers.

No doubt tomorrow the papers will be reporting it as a Cambodian or Burmese attack...or maybe Lao black magicians......

Call me a cynic....... This Is Thailand......