ID :
337219
Tue, 08/05/2014 - 14:28
Auther :

Ex-Thai PM "Yingluck" case to be probably forwarded to Supreme Court

BANGKOK, August 5 (TNA) - The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has sent its 4,000-page investigative report on allegedly corrupt roles of Thailand's ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in her previous administration's loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), in which a working group is expected to reach a conclusion whether the case is to be forwarded to the Supreme Court within 30 days. OAG Deputy Spokeswoman Santhanee Disayabutr told journalists on Tuesday that the attorney-general will form a special working committee to look into the case carefully and quickly. Santhanee said if evidence was sufficient, the OAG could file the charges with the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions within 30 days, but if it was not, the attorney-general would set up a joint working group with the NACC to work out the case fairly. According to the OAG spokeswoman, whether Yingluck, who has been on an overseas trip approved by the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), will return to Thailand or not will not have any impact on the case. The NACC resolved unanimously on July 17, 2014, to file its accusation against Yingluck in her past capacity as the chair of the National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC). In the case, Yingluck was accused of negligence of duty and tolerance for the rice-pledging scheme to be continued with corruption, causing damage worth up to 500 billion baht to the state. Meanwhile, Vichien Usanachote, President of Bangchak Petroleum Public Company Limited (Bangchak), a leading Thai energy firm, announced that Bangchak has agreed to buy rotten rice of the state, including that from the troubled rice-pledging scheme, with its price depending on its flour content. However, Vichien acknowledged that the rice purchase could affect local cassava growers, as ethanol production would depend less on cassava, suggesting that, to protect the growers' interest, the NCPO stop the sale of 95 benzene petrol to boost domestic ethanol demand, as the stoppage would not affect local motorists because all vehicles could be fueled with gasohol instead. (TNA)

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