Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has appealed the Criminal Court's dismissal of her lawsuit against a high-level official who held her responsible for 287 billion of the alleged 518-billion-baht losses stemming from her government's rice-pledging scheme.
Jirachai Moonthongroy, deputy permanent secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, headed a fact-finding committee on administrative offences involving the rice programme.
Mr Jirachai testified in court on May 13 his committee had determined 287 billion baht in administrative damages should be demanded of the former prime minister.
On June 1, Ms Yingluck filed a suit against him with the Criminal Court, accusing Mr Jirachai of malfeasance. Her lawyer, Noppadon Laothong, claimed he had not investigated witnesses, found facts, checked stocks and reconciled the amount or questioned related witnesses.
Besides, the lawyer claimed Mr Jirachai's committee had failed to identify which agencies had caused the damage. It simply blamed the Yingluck government, which actually supervised the rice scheme at the policy level to help farmers, he said, adding the loss had not resulted directly from any act of hers.
The court on June 10 dismissed her case in the complaint examination stage.
On Thursday, Mr Noppadon filed the appeal against the dismissal on behalf of Ms Yingluck at the Bangkok Criminal Court, citing irregularities in the complaint examination stage. For instance, he said the court ordered the inquisitorial system be used in this case as if the case were in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Person Holding Political Positions and permitted the accused to challenge the accusation.
Ms Yingluck is facing not only administrative penalty stemming from the rice programme. On another front, the attorney general filed a criminal suit against her with the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.
Mr Jirachai would testify in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in Bangkok on Friday in that case.
Ms Yingluck is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to stop her government's loss-ridden rice scheme despite being warned of the potential damage, estimated in the end to have exceeded 500 billion baht.
Her government was in power from August 2011 to May 2014. Under the rice-pledging programme, a key plank in the Pheu Thai Party election platform, the government bought all rice from farmers at prices 40-50% above prevailing market rates.
The aim of the programme, devised by Ms Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra, was to control supply and push up export prices. However, the world market was already experiencing an oversupply at the time and the scheme backfired badly on Thailand. As well, authorities allege there was widespread corruption in the reporting of rice transactions.
The government consequently built up huge stockpiles that led to storage problems and rice deterioration. Sales are still taking place but at substantial losses.
The Yingluck administration is also accused of arranging fake government-to-government rice sales that resulted in further damage. The Finance Ministry estimated overall losses from the rice scheme at 518 billion baht.
