PM Prayut says fugitive Yingluck is in Dubai

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Thursday former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is currently in the United Arab Emirates.
Former PM Yingluck Shinawatra
Former PM Yingluck Shinawatra

I have learned unofficially from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that she is in Dubai," Gen Prayut told reporters, adding that the ministry has been tracking Yingluck's whereabouts.

"The police will now have to proceed and coordinate with the Foreign Ministry and Interpol," he added.

Yingluck failed to appear for the Court's ruling on Aug 25th, and is believed to have fled the country. Gen Prayut said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was taking steps to have her passport revoked. 

He said he had no emotional reaction to the news that the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions had sentenced Yingluck to five years in jail for failing to stop falsified and corruption-plagued government-to-government sales of rice from her rice-pledging scheme.

“It is not my issue,” he told reporters. “It is a matter for the court and the individual concerned, like every other case. The court provides equality to all under the law, regardless of their status - whether they are traders, ordinary people or politicians,” he said.

Gen Prayut added that he had been following the case, but now that the court has ruled, he would move on to other cases, source from Bangkok Post.

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