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| Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra to be charged over rice scheme | Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra to be charged over rice scheme |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra will face a criminal charge over a controversial rice subsidy scheme, the attorney general's office says. | Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra will face a criminal charge over a controversial rice subsidy scheme, the attorney general's office says. |
| The news came as the legislature prepared to vote on whether to impeach her for dereliction of duty over the same scheme. | The news came as the legislature prepared to vote on whether to impeach her for dereliction of duty over the same scheme. |
| Critics say the rice policy cost the government billions and funnelled money to her party's power base. | Critics say the rice policy cost the government billions and funnelled money to her party's power base. |
| Ms Yingluck was removed from office in May 2014 just before a military coup. | Ms Yingluck was removed from office in May 2014 just before a military coup. |
| Her supporters say the claims against her are a ruse to remove her from politics. | Her supporters say the claims against her are a ruse to remove her from politics. |
| Ms Yingluck's party is the most popular in Thailand and has - under various different names - won every election since 2001. | Ms Yingluck's party is the most popular in Thailand and has - under various different names - won every election since 2001. |
| Surasak Threerattrakul, director-general of the Office of the Attorney General, said after considering all the witnesses and evidence from the National Anti-Corruption Committee "we agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck". | Surasak Threerattrakul, director-general of the Office of the Attorney General, said after considering all the witnesses and evidence from the National Anti-Corruption Committee "we agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck". |
| If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to 10 years. If the military-backed legislature also votes to impeach her she will be immediately banned from politics for five years. | If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to 10 years. If the military-backed legislature also votes to impeach her she will be immediately banned from politics for five years. |
| The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the criminal charges on the same day as the vote are a clear indication that Thailand's military rulers have decided she must be removed from any future role in politics. | The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the criminal charges on the same day as the vote are a clear indication that Thailand's military rulers have decided she must be removed from any future role in politics. |
| 'Already removed me' | |
| Ms Yingluck and her brother, tycoon and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, remain hugely popular among Thailand's rural poor, but are hated by an urban and middle-class elite who accuse them of corruption and abuse of power. | |
| Since the military removed Mr Thaksin from power in 2006, Thailand has been locked in a cycle of political instability. The military coup in May 2014 followed a sustained street protest campaign by opponents to oust Ms Yingluck's government. | |
| The allegations against her centre around a rice subsidy scheme in which Ms Yingluck's government bought rice from Thai farmers at a much higher price than on the global market. | |
| It resulted in the accumulation of huge stockpiles of rice and hit Thailand's rice exports hard. | |
| Ms Yingluck has maintained that she was not involved in the day-to-day running of the scheme. On Thursday she defended it as an attempt to support the rural poor. | |
| Ms Yingluck will be impeached if at least 132 members of Thailand's 220-strong National Legislative Assembly vote in favour of the move. | |
| In her statements to the assembly, she has repeatedly denied accusations of corruption and pointed out that she no longer holds any position in the government. | |
| "There is no position to remove me from as the Constitutional Court has already removed me as prime minister," she said in her final statement on Thursday. | |
| Thailand's troubles |