BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2020) The Supreme Court of Thailand has sentenced self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to another five years behind bars in absentia over charges of malfeasance and conflict of interest, Thai media reported on Thursday.
According to the Thai Rath daily, the court ruled illegal that Thaksin, while in public office, had retained ownership in a private telecom company contracted by the state. The court reportedly found that his shares in Shin Corp � the monopolist of broadcasting and mobile services in Thailand enjoying state concessions � were passed to bogus associates, such as family and servants, enabling him to maintain control in the company.
The court also found illegal that in his capacity as prime minister, Thaksin ordered a cut of taxes from 50 percent to 10 percent and an equivalent tax deduction from concession fees for mobile providers, including those owned by Shin Corp, according to the report.
The ex-prime minister was reportedly sentenced to three years in prison for keeping shares in the private company and another two years over conflict of interest.
This is already the third legal sentence in absentia for Thaksin: he was sentenced to two years over an insider real estate deal involving his wife in 2008 and to five years over abuse of power and corruption in 2019.
Thaksin, one of the region's wealthiest people and owner of the largest telecom business in Southeast Asia, entered politics in the late 1990s. In 2001, his party � which many in Thailand consider populist � won a landslide victory in elections, providing him with the prime minister's chair until 2006.
Thaksin was overthrown following mass protests that engulfed Thailand in 2005 and subsequently left the country. He however continues to be the symbol of Thailand's opposition and its unspoken leader.
