Court hearings over in Thai PM's corruption trials<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AP): Hearings in Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
\ncorruption trial ended on Thursday, leaving him to make his final
\npitch for innocence in a closing statement next month.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy ... that the trial has come to its
\nconclusion,\" Thaksin told reporters.<\/p>\n
He said he will be able to concentrate on government work once
\nthe Constitutional Court hands down its verdict, expected in late
\nJune or early July. \"Then I will know whether I should step
\nforward or backward,\" Thaksin said.<\/p>\n
If found guilty, Thaksin will have to resign and stay out of
\npublic office for five years. He went on trial April 3 on charges
\nof flouting an assets-disclosure law filed by the National
\nCounter Corruption Commission, which is also the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The court set June 18 for closing statements to be delivered.<\/p>\n
Thaksin said he is keen to make the closing statement
\npersonally, but \"again it depends on my legal team. If they say I
\nshould go then I will go.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier, the court rejected a defense request to allow both
\nThaksin and his chief lawyer to deliver separate closing
\nstatements. The judges said only one person would be allowed to
\nmake the 20-minute speech.<\/p>\n
Chief defense lawyer Vichai Thongtaeng told reporters that
\nThaksin would probably make the statement.<\/p>\n
Thaksin, 51, a telecom-tycoon-turned politician, was indicted
\nby the National Counter Corruption Commission in December for
\nfailing to list millions of dollars worth shares in a mandatory
\nasset declaration when he served in a previous government in
\n1997.<\/p>\n
Thaksin and his wife Pojamarn, whose holdings must also be
\nreported, had transferred the shares to proxies including several
\nof their domestic servants. Neither he nor his lawyers have
\nexplained why they made the share transfers, although the revenue
\ndepartment ruled earlier this month that the move did not
\nconstitute tax evasion.<\/p>\n
Thaksin's lawyers had decided not to put Thaksin or his wife
\non the stand, saying their documentary testimony will suffice.
\nThe prosecution challenged the move but without success.<\/p>\n
\"Since the court has no power by law to force unwilling
\nwitnesses to appear in court, the hearing will then come to an
\nend,\" Judge Prasert Naskul declared.<\/p>\n
Thaksin's legal team did not challenge the facts of the
\nprosecution's case, but instead focused on technicalities. It
\nalso attempted to discredit the ruling of the National Counter
\nCorruption Commission as politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Despite the indictment, Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai won an
\nunprecedented victory in the Jan. 6 general elections. Thaksin
\ntook office in February.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-hearings-over-in-thai-pms-corruption-trials-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}