AP, Bangkok :
Thailand’s ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was pushed from office more than a year ago, impeached and faces criminal charges, hit back at her opponents Tuesday with her own lawsuit.
Yingluck filed a case at Bangkok’s Criminal Court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.
The lawsuit is another twist in a long-standing political battle dividing Thailand. On one side is the country’s traditional ruling elite who are backed by the military that staged Thailand’s 2014 coup, and on the other is a group of politicians who challenged the status quo, led by Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire-turned-populist politician who held office from 2001 to 2006.
Yingluck was Thailand’s prime minister from 2011 until a controversial court decision forced her from office in May 2014, just a few days before the military staged a coup to overthrow her government. She was impeached earlier this year in connection with the money-losing rice subsidy scheme and barred her from office for five years. The attorney-general then pressed criminal charges against her over the same matter.
In her court filing Tuesday, Yingluck said the attorney-general and others were guilty of negligence of duty and a concerted effort to damage her, citing three alleged legal violations punishable by a range of 6 months to 10 years in prison.
Thailand’s ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was pushed from office more than a year ago, impeached and faces criminal charges, hit back at her opponents Tuesday with her own lawsuit.
Yingluck filed a case at Bangkok’s Criminal Court to counter-sue the country’s attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.
The lawsuit is another twist in a long-standing political battle dividing Thailand. On one side is the country’s traditional ruling elite who are backed by the military that staged Thailand’s 2014 coup, and on the other is a group of politicians who challenged the status quo, led by Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire-turned-populist politician who held office from 2001 to 2006.
Yingluck was Thailand’s prime minister from 2011 until a controversial court decision forced her from office in May 2014, just a few days before the military staged a coup to overthrow her government. She was impeached earlier this year in connection with the money-losing rice subsidy scheme and barred her from office for five years. The attorney-general then pressed criminal charges against her over the same matter.
In her court filing Tuesday, Yingluck said the attorney-general and others were guilty of negligence of duty and a concerted effort to damage her, citing three alleged legal violations punishable by a range of 6 months to 10 years in prison.
