<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A Thaksin spokesperson in Dubai did not respond to attempts by Reuters to contact Thaksin.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Yingluck pleaded innocent to the charges against her and said she was the victim of political persecution.<\/p>\n
The military government has used sweeping powers to silence critics, including supporters of the Shinawatras, since 2014.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
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