Thailand's Prime Minister Stands Trial Before the Constitutional Court
Date
5/6/2014 12:25:39 PM
(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) r/>Bangkok May 06 - Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra stood trial on Tuesday before the Constitutional Court on abuse of power charges .
She said to the courst "I did not interfere in the decision process ... which should be for the benefit of the land" Yingluck told the court."I have never benefited from any transfer of civil servants." That could lead to confrontation with anti-government groups which have been protesting in the capital Bangkok for six months in a bid to topple Yingluck. Those demonstrations disrupted a general election in February that she had been expected to win.
The crisis broadly pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mainly poor rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by the military in 2006 and now lives in exile to avoid a jail term handed down in 2008 for abuse of power.
Yingluck's supporters accuse the court which said it would issue its decision on Wednesday of bias in frequently ruling against the government.
Yingluck also faces a charge of dereliction of duty over a state rice-buying scheme that critics say is riddled with corruption and has run up huge losses.
This charge was brought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission which is expected to deliver its ruling this month. A guilty verdict here would also force Yingluck from office and she could in addition get a five-year ban from politics.
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