Reuters, Bangkok :
A Thai Court accepted a new case against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday over her removal of the security chief three years ago, compounding her legal problems after months of sometimes violent anti-government protests.
Twenty-four people have been killed in the crisis, including a protester shot in the head on Tuesday after weeks of calm in the capital, Bangkok.
Yingluck’s supporters plan mass rallies of their own this week to counter attempts to remove her from office by activists determined to stamp out the influence of her brother, ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen by many as the real power behind the government.
The Constitutional Court accepted a case brought by a group of 27 senators who petitioned it to rule that her removal of National Security Chief Thawil Pliensree in 2011 violated the constitution. Their case is that the prime minister abused her position by moving the security chief to an inactive post.
Court spokesman Pimon Thampitakpong said he could not yet say how long the case would last but said it bore similarities to a probe of former premier Samak Sundaravej who was forced to step down in 2008.
The Supreme Court ruled that Samak’s appearances on a television cooking show and his acceptance of payment for them was a clear case of conflict of interest.
“If she (Yingluck) is found to have violated the constitution then she will no longer be prime minister,” said Pimon, adding that Yingluck would be notified of the case in writing and would have 15 days to mount a defense.
Yingluck’s supporters have accused the Constitutional Court of bias in frequently ruling against the government.
The court struck down a bill last year that would have made the Senate upper house a fully elected body and quashed a costly infrastructure plan intended to buttress the economy.
