Yingluck's lawyer warns PM his client is not a bully
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YINGLUCK Shinawatra is a direct stakeholder in the rice-pledging scheme and has never intimidated or threatened anyone, the former prime minister's lawyer insisted yesterday.
Norrawit Larlaeng was responding to claims made by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that certain stakeholders in the rice-pledging scheme were threatening officials.
Prayut had been speaking to the National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC) last week and he said his efforts to make Yingluck pay for civil liability incurred from the scheme stemmed from his concern that the statute of limitations in the case would expire.
He had instructed the NRPC officials to not allow anyone, especially stakeholders in the case, to threaten or intimidate them. But Norrawit insisted Yingluck did not threaten anybody.
“She only exercised her right to defend herself as she is entitled to by law. She wants to ensure that her case goes through proper justice procedures and is not rushed through the legal process,’’ he said.
The Pheu Thai Party had earlier warned the government not to violate the European Parliament’s resolution to follow the rule of law and resort to court procedures in the Yingluck case.
Norrawit had earlier cited that the PM’s move to issue an administrative order to make Yingluck pay compensation might be deemed abuse of authority and motivated by politics. He said Prayut risked being accused of political harassment.
Norrawit said the rice-pledging scheme appeared to be processed with more haste than any of the other actions against former premiers.
He said Yingluck would today appear at the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders to hear the decision on how many witnesses both sides can bring to the court to testify.
The court will also schedule when each witness will be summoned. He said this process was needed since both sides have more than 100 witnesses and large amounts of documents to present as evidence.
Meanwhile, Anuwat Thinnarat, the former chairman of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, said supporters in Nakhon Ratchasima province would not wear red on Sunday or rally for Yingluck.
“We do not want to stage rallies that become an issue. We will just stay put and send our moral support,’’ he said.
