Thailand has ordered the former Prime Minister to pay $305 million in compensation for losses from her "rice" scheme
Kyiv • UNN
The Supreme Court ordered Yingluck Shinawatra to compensate for losses from the farmer support program. In 2017, she was sentenced to 5 years for negligence.
Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court has ordered former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is in self-imposed exile, to pay more than 10 billion baht (approximately $305 million) for massive damages caused to the state by her failed farmer subsidy program. Because of it, in 2017, the official was sentenced to 5 years in prison for official negligence. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
According to the publication, on May 22, the Thai court ruled in the case of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, ordering her to compensate the state 10 billion baht (about $305 million) for losses related to the failed farmer support program that operated during her time in power.
This verdict became a continuation of a long legal history, which dates back to 2017, when Yingluck was found guilty of official negligence and sentenced in absentia to five years of imprisonment. The politician still lives abroad to avoid imprisonment.
The court noted that Yingluck "performed her duties with gross negligence, which caused damage to the state, and therefore must pay compensation." At the same time, the court recognized that the previous obligation to pay 35 billion baht was illegal and exceeded the permissible limits of liability.
The court's decision was made against the background of the political return of the "Feu Thai" party to power, which took place less than two years before that, as well as after the high-profile return of her brother Thaksin to Thailand after 15 years of exile. The Shinawatra family continues to insist that they have become the target of political reprisals by the army and the conservative establishment.
Commenting on the verdict, Yingluck said: "The order to pay 10 billion baht is excessive."
Let's add
Yingluck, a representative of the Shinawatra political dynasty and the younger sister of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, came to power in 2011 and left office shortly before the military coup in 2014. She is now the aunt of the current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
The rice program, which was actively promoted by the Pheu Thai party, involved the purchase of rice from farmers at prices 50% higher than market prices. As a result, millions of tons of unsold grain accumulated in warehouses, and the state suffered billions in losses.