Prosecutors file papers ahead of Yingluck verdict

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry has stepped up its monitoring of local administrative organisations planning to hold field trips to Bangkok around the time of the verdict to show moral support for Yingluck.
Surasak Trirattrakul, from the Office of the Attorney-General, said prosecutors had submitted 211 pages of documents to the court concerning Yingluck’s alleged negligence of official duties while implementing the rice-pledging scheme.
According to the prosecutors, Yingluck’s wrongdoing resulted in corruption and massive financial damage to the state.
Regarding a related matter of fake government-to-government rice export deals, 165 pages of documents have been submitted to the court by prosecutors who allege wrongdoing by former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and others.
The cases are related because the previous government allegedly announced the government-to-government export deals, which turned out to be bogus, to justify extension of the rice-pledging scheme.
Yingluck and other defendants in these two cases have already presented their closing statements before the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Somchai Ngamwongchon, the Central Administrative Court’s spokesperson, said the Finance Ministry had submitted its written explanation for freezing Yingluck’s bank accounts as part of the government’s civil liability lawsuit against the ex-premier.
Yingluck earlier sought a court injunction on the government’s seizure of her bank accounts and other assets. According to the civil liability lawsuit, the government demanded a payment of Bt35 billion from the ex-premier on the grounds that her rice-pledging scheme had resulted in a huge financial loss.
Somchai said the chief judge responsible for the case was expected to finalise a judgement within the next two weeks as to whether to issue an injunction to stop the government’s legal measures. If the injunction is issued, the government has the right to appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court.
He said the panel of judges might also take the criminal cases against Yingluck and others into consideration in deciding whether to issue the injunction.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry has ordered provincial governors to ensure that local administrative organisations do not use their state budgets to organise trips to Bangkok as part of their efforts to show moral support for Yingluck on August 25.
These local administrative organisations are said to have organised training and field trips to Bangkok, enabling large numbers of Yingluck supporters to show up on “judgement day”.
Deputy premier Prawit Wongsuwan said the government would take precautionary measures to prevent any unrest around the Supreme Court’s premises on August 25 because several thousand Yingluck supporters were expected to show up.