Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra took to social media on Friday to make another public appeal as to why the government's attempt to make her personally pay back losses from her government’s multibillion-baht rice scheme was illegal.
In a post to her Facebook page and in a series of tweets on Twitter, Ms Yingluck made the case for why the junta's attempt to use an administrative process -- rather than a court lawsuit -- to make her pay compensation contradicted laws and regulations governing the liability of state officials and administrators.
She criticised the demand for personal funds from the Finance Ministry, contending it is not a damaged party.
Ms Yingluck claimed that the losses in the rice-pledging programme had not been accounted for properly and correctly, and it was unfair to make her solely responsible, as a legal case on the matter was still in progress.
2.ขณะนี้คดีความทางอาญายังไม่สิ้นสุด จึงย่อมได้รับความคุ้มครองตามสิทธิ ในกระบวนการยุติธรรม pic.twitter.com/vYaw6YF90Y
— Yingluck Shinawatra (@PouYingluck) January 29, 2016
In her tweet, Ms Yingluck says that as long as the legal case is in progress, she should be protected by certain rights.
The former premier said she was appealing on social media again because the government did not acknowledge six previous letters from her on the subject. She noted that today her lawyer sent yet another complaint to the prime minister and the finance minister.
The government earlier claimed that moves to hold state officials accountable for loss-causing decisions were normal and such officials could appeal with the Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission found Ms Yingluck's rice-pledging scheme was a populist policy to ensure her electoral victory for her Pheu Thai Party because the programme paid farmers higher-than-market rates for their rice with no limits. It also found that the programme led to corruption because rice in the government's stockpiles had been sold off-books at low prices.
At the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions, Ms Yingluck was accused of dereliction of duty under the Criminal Code and the Anti-Corruption Act for failing to halt the rice subsidy, which resulted in 500 billion baht in losses. If she is found guilty, Ms Yingluck could face up to 10 years in jail.