A lawyer representing Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday called on the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) to set up a new committee to jointly investigate charges against her along with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Yingluck: Will have 50 defence witnesses
The suggestion is aimed at ensuring justice for the former prime minister who is accused of dereliction of duty over her alleged failure to deal with corruption in the rice-pledging scheme.
Norawit Lalaeng, the lawyer, made the call in a petition he submitted with the OAG, asking that it ensure justice and fairness in the case against his client.
He said the NACC's investigation report on the case was incomplete and lacked detail on many important points because it had been prepared in haste.
A joint OAG-NACC committee should be set up to further investigate the case, Mr Norawit said.
He said that he will have 50 witnesses ready to testify in Ms Yingluck's defence, but said this was not a tactic to buy time because the accused has the right to a solid defence.
It was also Ms Yingluck's wish to provide as many details as possible, so all parties concerned could take them into consideration, the lawyer added.
Mr Norawit said the NACC report accuses Ms Yingluck of corruption at every step of the rice-pledging process, but provides no evidence to back up the accusations.
Moreover, the committee set up by the National Council for Peace and Order to inspect the pledged rice had found that the amount of rotten stock stored in warehouses was less than the amount set to determine acceptable damages.
This demonstrated that there was no corruption in the programme, he said. Therefore, the OAG should accept the petition and give Ms Yingluck the justice she deserves, Mr Norawit said.
His petition was received by Somkiat Kuwawatananont, deputy secretary to the attorney-general. On July 17, the NACC recommended Ms Yingluck be indicted for failing to deal with corruption and losses to the state as a result of the scheme.
The NACC estimates the ill-fated rice scheme lost at least 500 billion baht, a cost borne by taxpayers.