Court may rule against Thaksin

Court may rule against Thaksin

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand's Constitutional Court is "highly
likely" to rule against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the
assets concealment case that threatens to force him out of
office, a report said on Sunday.

The Bangkok Post said the court's 15-member bench believed
there was enough evidence to suggest the billionaire politician
benefited financially from the controversial transfer of shares
to his household servants.

"We have to decide if that is a strong enough motive to drive
Mr. Thaksin into hiding the information," it quoted an unnamed
source close to the court as saying.

The court is also deliberating whether Thaksin shifted the
shareholdings under the names of nominees in order to avoid
reporting transactions to the Securities Exchange Commission.

"The judges believe that was another motive," the source said.
"Mr. Thaksin can't get off the hook with all this information."

The source said most of the 15 judges were likely to rule that
Thaksin deliberately concealed the assets in an official assets
declaration lodged in 1997 when he served briefly as deputy prime
minister.

If the premier is found guilty he faces a five-year ban from
politics that would force him to step down as leader despite
having won a landslide election victory in January.

However, the court may choose to back-date the banishment to
1997 when the alleged offense occurred, leaving him with only
just over a year to sit on the sidelines.

The Constitutional Court hinted last week that the verdict is
likely to be handed down in late August.

"It is possible that the prime minister's case will be decided
and judged within August," said Constitutional Court judge Jul
Adirek. "It is less likely to be finished by early August."