KABUL (SW): 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.
Puea Thai Party sources informed Reuters Yingluck 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 authorized to speak to the media.
Deputy national police Chief General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said police had no record of Yingluck, 50, leaving the country and were following developments closely. A Reuters reporter was stopped by security at the exclusive Emirates Hills community in Dubai, where Thaksin has a home.
A Thaksin spokesperson in Dubai did not respond to attempts by Reuters to contact Thaksin.
Police estimate that up to 3,000 supporters had gathered outside the court in Bangkok on Friday where Yingluck was due to hear a verdict in a negligence trial against her involving a rice buying policy of her administration.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the government “should not comment” on Yingluck’s case and her whereabouts. “It’s a matter for the police to proceed with the arrest warrant,” Wissanu told reporters, adding that her whereabouts “will be clear soon”.
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.
Yingluck pleaded innocent to the charges against her and said she was the victim of political persecution.
The military government has used sweeping powers to silence critics, including supporters of the Shinawatras, since 2014.
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