RATCHADA LAND CASE
Thaksin: Barred from travelling overseas |
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's latest request to travel overseas has been rejected by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. On June 24 Mr Thaksin lodged a request through his lawyer for the court's permission to travel to China and England. Mr Thaksin is a defendant in the 772-million-baht Ratchadaphisek land purchase case.
Mr Thaksin said in the request that after travelling to China and England he would return to Thailand. He would then ask for permission to travel to Japan and China again. After that, he would come back and then ask for the court's permission to go to China again.
He had planned to start the journey on June 27. It is not known when the court rejected his application. The decision was made public yesterday.
A panel of judges handling the Ratchadaphisek land case rejected the request, saying Mr Thaksin would be out of the country when the court hearings into his case are in progress. The court said the hearings involved evidence and witnesses and would take some time.
However, the court only rejected the request lodged by Mr Thaksin's lawyers on June 24. If Mr Thaksin needs to go overseas again, he can file new requests for permission. The court will decide on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Thaksin and his wife Khunying Potjaman are defendants in the Ratchadaphisek land deal case.
When Mr Thaksin returned to Thailand from his self-imposed exile in England to fight the charges against him, the court ordered that he could not go abroad without the court's permission.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Court yesterday called defendants in the tax evasion case involving the Shinawatra Computer and Communication share sales to hear the Constitution Court's ruling on the status of the Assets Scrutiny Committee, the case investigator.
The defendants asked about the validity of the ASC.
A court ruling on Monday said the setting up of the ASC by the military-installed government did not violate the constitution and the panel had the legal authority to investigate cases.
Mr Thaksin's wife Khunying Potjaman, her step-brother Bannapot Damapong and her secretary Karnchanapa Honghern were charged by the Office of the Attorney-General with conspiring to evade taxes amounting to 546.12 million baht in the 1997 transfer of shares worth 738 million baht in Shinawatra Computer and Communication Co.
The Criminal Court is expected to hand down a verdict on the case today.
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