Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has fled to Dubai, senior members of her party said on Saturday, a day after she failed to show up for a negligence ruling in which she faced up to 10 years in prison.

Sources in her Puea Thai Party said the former prime minister left Thailand last week and flew via Singapore to Dubai where her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a 2008 jail sentence for corruption, has a home.

"We heard that she went to Cambodia and then Singapore from where she flew to Dubai. She has arrived safely and is there now," said a senior member of the Puea Thai Party who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Deputy national police chief General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said police had no record of Yingluck leaving the country and where following developments closely.

A Reuters reporter was stopped by security at the exclusive Emirates Hills community in Dubai, where Thaksin has a home.

A spokesperson for Thaksin in Dubai did not respond to attempts by Reuters to contact Thaksin. </s> Ousted former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, September 29, 2015. Source: Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom/File Picture

THAILAND’S Supreme Court has sentenced former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to five years jail after finding her guilty of negligence in a trial brought by the junta that overthrew her.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the nine judges were still delivering the verdict on Wednesday when news of the sentence leaked to Thai media.

Yingluck dramatically fled the country a month ago after failing to show up at court for the verdict. She was rumoured to be in Cambodia, however, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied those rumours. Three senior policemen have been investigated but not charged for allegedly helping her escape in a car with counterfeit plates.

SEE ALSO: Thailand: Ex-PM Yingluck has fled abroad, say sources



Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who overthrew Yingluck in a 2014 coup, said on Tuesday that he knows where the ousted former prime minister is but refused to disclose her location until after a verdict was delivered.

Reuters has reported she is living in Dubai with her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister toppled in a 2006 coup, who lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence on corruption charges.

Yingluck, who pleaded not guilty in the case, was found guilty of negligence for the mismanagement of a rice subsidy scheme that saw Yingluck’s government buy rice from farmers at above-market prices in an attempt to manipulate the global grain market.

SEE ALSO: Thailand: Arrest warrant issued for ex-PM Yingluck after no-show in court



The program collapsed as neighbouring countries increased production and stockpiles of rice rotted in Thai warehouses. The military claims it caused US$8 billion in losses.

The verdict has the potential to reignite tensions between the ruling military junta and those who still support the Shinawatra family. However, only 50 members of Yingluck’s so-called “red shirt movement” showed up outside the court on Wednesday, a dramatic drop in numbers from previous hearings.

Prayuth has urged Thais to remain calm over the case that has essentially ended the political dominance of the Shinawatra family, whose movement won the last five general elections, making it the most dominant force in Thai politics for more than a decade. </s> BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said on Thursday (Sep 28) former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is currently in the United Arab Emirates.

"She is in Dubai," Prayuth told reporters, adding that the Thai foreign ministry has been tracking Yingluck's whereabouts.

"The police will now have to proceed and coordinate with the Foreign Ministry and Interpol," the Prime Minister said.

Thailand's Supreme Court convicted and sentenced former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in absentia to five years in prison on Wednesday for mismanaging a rice subsidy scheme.

Aides said she had fled Thailand, fearing a harsh sentence. Last month, Reuters reported that she had escaped to Dubai, where her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, owns a home. </s> BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has fled the country ahead of a verdict against her in a negligence trial brought by the junta that overthrew her, sources close to the Shinawatra family said on Friday.

Yingluck, 50, whose family has dominated Thai politics for more than 15 years, failed to show up at court for judgment in a case centered on the multi-billion dollar losses incurred by a rice subsidy scheme for farmers.

Overthrown in 2014, Yingluck had faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Her former commerce minister was jailed in a related case for 42 years on Friday.

“She has definitely left Thailand,” said one source, who is also a member of her Puea Thai Party. The sources did not say where she had gone.

Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who heads the political clan, was overthrown in a 2006 coup and fled into exile to escape a corruption conviction that he said was aimed at demolishing the populist movement he founded.

The struggle between that movement and a Bangkok-centered royalist and pro-military elite has been at the heart of years of turmoil in Thailand. The verdict against Yingluck could have reignited tension, though the army has largely snuffed out open opposition.

ARREST WARRANT

After Yingluck failed to show up, the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant against her and rescheduled the verdict to Sept. 27. It said it did not believe her excuse that she could not attend the court hearing because of an ear problem.

“It is possible that she has fled already,” Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters. He later said police were investigating reports that she had left via Koh Chang, an island close to the Cambodian border.

Cambodian immigration police said she had not entered their country.

Yingluck last commented on social media on Thursday, saying on her Facebook page that she would not be able to meet supporters at court because of tight security.

She had been banned from traveling abroad at the beginning of the trial in 2015 and has attended previous hearings. The court confiscated the 30 million baht ($900,000) that Yingluck had posted as bail.

Supporters of ousted former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra wait for her at the Supreme Court in Bangkok, Thailand, August 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Hundreds of her supporters had gathered outside the court on Friday where about 4,000 police had been deployed. Some held roses while others wore white gloves with the word “love” on them.

Although Yingluck had already been banned from politics by the junta in 2015, she could have been a party figurehead for elections that junta leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has promised for next year.

If Yingluck has fled it would disappoint her supporters and make her opponents feel vindicated, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

“It does not help with Thailand’s division and polarization,” he said.

Under the rice subsidy program, Yingluck’s administration paid rice farmers up to 50 percent more than market prices. It left Thailand with huge rice stockpiles and caused $8 billion in losses.

Yingluck has said she was only in charge of coming up with the policy but not the day-to-day management of it.

“If she has fled people would not trust her, but the masses would still support her because they benefited from her policies,” 38-year-old delivery man Sakunchai Muenlamai.

Slideshow (5 Images)

The Supreme Court sentenced Yingluck’s former commerce minister, Boonsong Teriyapirom, to 42 years in jail after finding him guilty of falsifying government-to-government rice deals between Thailand and China in 2013.

He said he would appeal, but was told it was too late in the day to apply for bail so will spend the weekend behind bars. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ms Yingluck is the sister of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who fled Thailand in 2008

Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has fled abroad, sources say, ahead of a verdict in her trial over a rice subsidy scheme.

Sources in her party say she made the decision to leave unexpectedly, shortly before she was due to appear at the Supreme Court on negligence charges.

Her lawyers told the court she had been unable to attend because she was ill.

But when she failed to appear, the court issued an arrest warrant for her and confiscated her bail.

Judges also postponed the verdict until 27 September.

Ms Yingluck has denied any wrongdoing in the scheme which cost Thailand billions of dollars. If found guilty at the end of her two-year trial, she could be jailed for up to 10 years and permanently banned from politics.

Sources within Ms Yingluck's Puea Thai Party told Reuters that she had "definitely left Thailand" but did not give details of her whereabouts.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who heads Thailand's military government, said all routes out of the country were being closely monitored.

"I just learned that she did not show up [at court]," he told reporters. "I have ordered border checkpoints to be stepped up."

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan initially said he had no information on Ms Yingluck's whereabouts but as he left a meeting in Bangkok he said: "It is possible that she has fled already."

How could Yingluck Shinawatra have left?

Analysis by Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok

Yingluck Shinawatra was the most high-profile criminal defendant in Thailand and was constantly monitored by the military authorities. So how was she able to leave the country just hours before the verdict was due to be read out? Immigration authorities say they have no record of her leaving the country.

However, it is a poorly-concealed secret that some in the military government would have been happy to see her leave the country before the verdict.

Had she been convicted and jailed, she could have been seen as a victim by her supporters. The government was nervous about their reaction. Acquitting her, though, would have been equally unacceptable to her hard-line opponents, many of them very influential.

That would also have undermined the justification for the military coup which overthrew her government. So it is unlikely anyone tried to stop her leaving, or that they will try to get her back.

She could have gone to the VIP area of one of Bangkok's airports and taken a private jet out of the country or she might have driven across the border into Cambodia or Laos.

However she is most likely to have joined her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been living mainly in Dubai since he went into exile, fleeing a Supreme Court verdict, in 2008.

What happened in court?

Ms Yingluck's lawyer had requested a delay in the ruling, telling the Supreme Court that she had vertigo and a severe headache and was unable to attend.

But the court said in a statement it did not believe she was sick as there was no medical certificate and that the claimed sickness was not severe enough to prevent her travelling to court.

"Such behaviour convincingly shows that she is a flight risk. As a result, the court has issued an arrest warrant and confiscated the posted bail money," the statement said.

Ms Yingluck posted $900,000 (£703,000) bail at the beginning of her trial.

Image caption Journalists waited outside Ms Yingluck's home in Bangkok, expecting her to attend the court

Friday's turn of events took many by surprise, including the hundreds of people who turned up outside the Supreme Court in Bangkok to support Ms Yingluck.

BBC Thai reporter Nanchanok Wongsamuth said the announcement prompted shocked reactions in the courtroom, and then a flurry of activity as journalists ran out to report the news.

What is the trial about?

Ms Yingluck, who became Thailand's first female prime minister in 2011, was impeached in 2015 over the rice scheme by a military-backed legislature, which then brought the legal case.

The scheme, part of Ms Yingluck's election campaign platform, launched shortly after she took office.

It was aimed at boosting farmers' incomes and alleviating rural poverty, and saw the government paying farmers nearly twice the market rate for their crop.

But it hit Thailand's rice exports hard, leading to a loss of at least $8bn and huge stockpiles of rice which the government could not sell.

Though it was popular with her rural voter base, opponents said the scheme was too expensive and open to corruption.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hundreds of Ms Yingluck's supporters had gathered outside the court

During her trial, Ms Yingluck had argued she was not responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme. She has insisted she is a victim of political persecution.

In another development on Friday, former Thai minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was jailed for 42 years in connection with the rice subsidy scheme.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the exceptionally heavy sentence for Mr Boonsong suggests the court would not have been lenient with Ms Yingluck and it is possible she was warned about this before making her decision to flee.

How popular is Yingluck Shinawatra?

Ms Yingluck's time in office was overshadowed by controversy as well as strong political opposition.

The youngest sister of Mr Thaksin, she was seen by her opponents as a proxy for her brother, who was controversially ousted by the military in 2006.

Both siblings remain popular among the rural poor, but are hated by an urban and middle-class elite.

Their Puea Thai party has - under various different names - won every election in Thailand since 2001.

Some of Ms Yingluck's supporters outside the court on Friday expressed understanding at her failure to show.

"The Thai prime minister has done her best, she has sacrificed a lot," said Seksan Chalitaporn, 64. "Now the people have to fight for themselves."

Telecommunications billionaire Mr Thaksin, who once owned Manchester City FC, has lived in self-imposed exile since leaving Thailand. It is believed he travels between homes in London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Timeline of Yingluck's rice scheme controversy

May 2011- Yingluck Shinawatra is elected PM, and shortly afterwards begins rolling out her rice subsidy scheme.

January 2014 - Thailand's anti-corruption authorities investigate Ms Yingluck in connection to the scheme.

May 2014 - She is forced to step down from her post after Thailand's constitutional court finds her guilty of abuse of power in another case. Weeks later the military ousts what remains of her government.

January 2015 - An army-backed legislature impeaches Ms Yingluck for corruption over her role in the rice scheme, which effectively bans her from politics for five years. It also launches legal proceedings against her.

August 2017 - Ms Yingluck fails to appear at court for the verdict, claiming ill health. </s> Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was sentenced in absentia Wednesday to five years in prison by the Supreme Court after it found her guilty of negligence of duty for mishandling a rice subsidy project that caused massive losses.

Yingluck is believed to have fled the country ahead of the verdict day that was originally scheduled last month. An arrest warrant has been issued for her, with Thai police seeking assistance from Interpol.

In its ruling, the court said Yingluck, who oversaw the rice subsidy policy in her administration, failed to stop falsified government-to-government sales of rice despite warnings from relevant state and independent agencies.

Yingluck’s co-defendant, former Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, was last month sentenced to 42 years in jail by the court.

Yingluck’s lawyer, Norawit Lalaeng, told reporters that her legal team will study the full verdict before making a decision on whether to appeal. However, Norawit admitted he has yet to reach Yingluck since Aug. 25 and still did not know where she is.

Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda said efforts will continue to bring Yingluck back to face justice even though her whereabouts remain unknown.

Fewer supporters showed up at the court to hear the verdict than the initial court date last month. Most said the ruling was expected and that it was fortunate she had fled the country.

The younger sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in May 2014 by the Constitutional Court over an abuse-of-power case, just two weeks ahead of a coup against her political party’s successor government. The military has remained in power since then.

During the trial, she denied charges of criminal negligence in connection with her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

The scheme, which was her administration’s flagship policy, resulted in losses of some 500 billion baht (about $15 billion) to state coffers.

Her failure to appear in court on Aug. 25 prompted the postponement of the verdict until Wednesday.

Confirmed reports previously indicated Yingluck, who became Thailand’s first female prime minister in 2011, had fled the country to Dubai, where her older brother, who was ousted as prime minister in a previous military coup in 2006, resides.

Thaksin’s daughters this week showed photos of him in London, but it was unclear if Yingluck was with them there.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who as army chief in 2014 overthrew the civilian government led by the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai Party, claimed Tuesday to know Yingluck’s whereabouts. But he said he would only inform the public after the ruling. </s> Image copyright AFP

Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been found guilty of criminal negligence and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

The Supreme Court convicted her of mishandling a rice subsidy scheme which allegedly cost Thailand at least $8bn.

Ousted in 2014, weeks before a military coup, and later impeached, Ms Yingluck denies all charges and fled before the verdict, reportedly to Dubai.

Public opinion is divided. She remains popular with rural and poor voters.

The Supreme Court judges said Ms Yingluck had been aware of the falsified rice deals but did nothing to stop it.

"The accused knew that the government-to-government rice contract was unlawful but did not prevent it," the court said in a statement.

"Which is a manner of seeking unlawful gains. Therefore, the action of the accused is considered negligence of duty," it said.

During her trial, Ms Yingluck had argued she was not responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme and insisted she was a victim of political persecution.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Throughout the trial, Ms Yingluck still had many supporters

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says "the verdict sets an awkward precedent, criminalising a prime minister for a policy, which was a central part of her election manifesto".

"There has been no suggestion that she was herself involved in any corruption," he explains.

What was the rice scheme?

Part of Ms Yingluck's election campaign, it was launched after she took office in 2011.

To alleviate rural poverty, the government paid rural farmers nearly twice the market rate.

The scheme hit Thailand's rice exports, leading to an estimated loss the military government says was at least $8bn.

Though popular with her rural voter base, the scheme was too expensive and open to corruption, her opponents said.

Where is she now?

Ms Yingluck is thought to be in Dubai where her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, lives in self-imposed exile avoiding a 2008 sentence for corruption.

Ms Yingluck entered politics only after his sentence and was seen by critics as a proxy for her ousted brother.

Both siblings remain popular among Thailand's rural poor, but are opposed by an urban and middle-class elite.

She is unlikely to serve any of her sentence because she is out of the country.

The trial ran over two years, with a ruling initially scheduled for late August. When Ms Yingluck surprisingly failed to show up in court, the verdict was postponed and an arrest warrant was issued for her.

Timeline of the controversy

May 2011- Yingluck Shinawatra is elected PM, and shortly afterwards begins rolling out her rice subsidy scheme

January 2014 - Thailand's anti-corruption authorities investigate Ms Yingluck in connection to the scheme

May 2014 - She is forced to step down from her post after Thailand's constitutional court finds her guilty of abuse of power in another case. Weeks later the military ousts what remains of her government

January 2015 - An army-backed legislature impeaches Ms Yingluck for corruption over her role in the rice scheme, which effectively bans her from politics for five years. It also launches legal proceedings against her

August 2017 - Ms Yingluck fails to appear at court for the verdict, claiming ill health. It is later thought she left for Dubai </s> The Supreme Court of Thailand on Friday issued an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she failed to appear in court for the verdict in a negligence case, reported Reuters. The judge said he suspected that Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2014, had either fled the country or gone into hiding.

Although her lawyers said she could not attend the hearing because she was ill, the bench said it did not believe her excuse. “We don’t think that the defendant is ill,” the court said. “We think the defendant is hiding or has fled.”

The top court will pronounce the verdict on September 27.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan also said it was possible Shinawatra had already fled the country, reported BBC. However, her lawyer Norwait Lalaeng claimed he was unaware whether the former prime minister was still in Thailand.

Shinawatra faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty in a rice subsidy scheme case. If convicted, she will have 30 days to appeal against the verdict.

The subsidy scheme, which was a flagship policy of Shinawatra’s administration, was a hit among farmers, but it had incurred losses worth $8 billion (around Rs 51,040 crore). The former prime minister had argued that she was only in charge of coming up with the policy and not its day-to-day management. </s> Thai authorities are looking for former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she was a no-show Friday at a hearing where she was expected to learn the verdict in her criminal trial. Thailand's Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant and border guards were keeping an eye out for her — although there was speculation that Shinawatra may have already left the country.

The dramatic twist dashed the expectations of many in Thailand who had been awaiting the verdict — and a potential prison sentence for Shinawatra if convicted of negligence.

Now, current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he has "assigned officials to check the normal entry and exit routes and find out where she is."

From Bangkok, NPR's Michael Sullivan reports for our Newscast unit:



"There was a huge police presence at the courthouse where hundreds of her supporters had gathered for the verdict. But Yingluck's lawyers told the court she couldn't make it — because of an earache. "The judges weren't buying it. 'We don't think the defendant is ill, we think the defendant is hiding ... or has fled,' a court statement read. A new date for the verdict has been set for Sept. 27. Yingluck has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail."



Shinawatra has jumped bail following a string of problems that derailed her tenure. Forced out of office by a military coup in May of 2014, she was formally impeached in January of 2015. Months later, a court charged Shinawatra with negligence, as NPR's Scott Neuman reported, "for her role overseeing a populist rice-subsidy program that was mishandled, costing the government billions of dollars." She has pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, two officials from Shinawatra's administration were ordered to serve long jail terms over the rice scheme. As the Bangkok Post reports, former Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was sentenced to 42 years in jail; his former deputy, Poom Sarapol, got 36 years.

As for Shiniwatra's whereabouts, Thai media speculated that she might have fled the country and traveled to Singapore, on her way to to join her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin, who was overthrown by the military back in 2006 and has since lived in a self-imposed exile after he was found guilty of corruption.
Senior members of the Pheu Thai Party report former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left Thailand last week ahead of the verdict in her negligence trial. She is in Dubai where her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, lives.