Court hearings over in Thai PM's corruption trials
Court hearings over in Thai PM's corruption trials
BANGKOK (AP): Hearings in Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's corruption trial ended on Thursday, leaving him to make his final pitch for innocence in a closing statement next month.
"I am very happy ... that the trial has come to its conclusion," Thaksin told reporters.
He said he will be able to concentrate on government work once the Constitutional Court hands down its verdict, expected in late June or early July. "Then I will know whether I should step forward or backward," Thaksin said.
If found guilty, Thaksin will have to resign and stay out of public office for five years. He went on trial April 3 on charges of flouting an assets-disclosure law filed by the National Counter Corruption Commission, which is also the prosecutor.
The court set June 18 for closing statements to be delivered.
Thaksin said he is keen to make the closing statement personally, but "again it depends on my legal team. If they say I should go then I will go."
Earlier, the court rejected a defense request to allow both Thaksin and his chief lawyer to deliver separate closing statements. The judges said only one person would be allowed to make the 20-minute speech.
Chief defense lawyer Vichai Thongtaeng told reporters that Thaksin would probably make the statement.
Thaksin, 51, a telecom-tycoon-turned politician, was indicted by the National Counter Corruption Commission in December for failing to list millions of dollars worth shares in a mandatory asset declaration when he served in a previous government in 1997.
Thaksin and his wife Pojamarn, whose holdings must also be reported, had transferred the shares to proxies including several of their domestic servants. Neither he nor his lawyers have explained why they made the share transfers, although the revenue department ruled earlier this month that the move did not constitute tax evasion.
Thaksin's lawyers had decided not to put Thaksin or his wife on the stand, saying their documentary testimony will suffice. The prosecution challenged the move but without success.
"Since the court has no power by law to force unwilling witnesses to appear in court, the hearing will then come to an end," Judge Prasert Naskul declared.
Thaksin's legal team did not challenge the facts of the prosecution's case, but instead focused on technicalities. It also attempted to discredit the ruling of the National Counter Corruption Commission as politically motivated.
Despite the indictment, Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai won an unprecedented victory in the Jan. 6 general elections. Thaksin took office in February.