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| Court Puts Burma Loan Case against Thaksin on Hold |
| UPDATE : 16 September 2008 |
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The Supreme Court has decided to put the Burma loan case against self-exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on hold and issue another arrest warrant for him, due to his absence before the tribunal at today's hearing.
The Supreme Court's division for cases against political post holders approved an arrest warrant today for deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime defendant in the controversial Cabinet resolution requiring the Export and Import Bank or EXIM Bank to provide a loan for the Burmese government.
This is the second arrest warrant against Thaksin after he jumped bail on a charge of abusing his administrative power to help his wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, purchase a land plot in the Ratchadapisek area.
The court decided to put the loan case on hold after the deposed prime minister failed to appear at today's hearing after being summoned. He did not explain his absence and it is still uncertain when he will be brought to trial.
Meanwhile, the court has approved Thaksin's request asking for the revocation of his lawyer team in charge of the case.
Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is charged with alleged malfeasance by the now defunct Assets Examination Committee or AEC, after the panel found the EXIM Bank's four billion baht loan given to Burma was spent on the purchase of telecommunication services from Shin Satellite Company, a subsidiary of Shin Corporation formerly owned by the Shinawatra family.
The National Counter Corruption Commission later took over the prosecution and is acting as the plaintiff in the case after the AEC's term completed.
At the same time, the indictment on the charge of share concealment filed against Thaksin, his wife Pojaman, and her sister-in-law, Bussaba Damapong has been delayed to October 29 as the Special Litigation Department has yet to receive evidence on the related share transactions from the Department of Special Investigation.
The Special Litigation Department is also allowed to forfeit the defendants' bail money of one million baht if the defendants fail to appear before the public prosecutors on October 29.
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