Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn on Tuesday declined to say whether the government will revoke the passport of fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she fled the country days before hearing the court verdict in her negligence case.
Tanasak, in Sydney after overseeing a
troupe of 56 Khon mask dancers who performed at the Sydney Opera House,
was asked by foreign journalists if the government plans to revoke
Yingluck's passport.
Tanasak, who oversees the Foreign Ministry, said: “The Thai government
practices the rule of law. As an administration, we can not intervene in
the judgment of the court.
"In your country, can you intervene in the court?
"Thailand is the big country and the government gives freedom to
citizens. We don’t follow individuals in terms of where they are going
or when they leave the country. So we're following the rule of law. Just
as another country."
An arrest warrant was issued for Yingluck by the Supreme Court’s
Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions last Friday after
she failed to turn up for the reading of the verdict.
Her negligence case is linked to her then government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme.
The court postponed the reading of the verdict until September 27 and ordered the seizure of Yingluck’s Bt30-million bail.
Source - TheNation
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