Thailand's Supreme Court Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office Wednesday postponed the reading of its verdict of the Ratchadapisek land case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife to next month.
The court scheduled October 21 for the verdict reading, saying the accused -- Thaksin and Pojaman Shinawatra -- are required to be present during the verdict.
If Thaksin and Potjaman, who are in Britain seeking asylum, do not turn up to hear their verdict in person, the court is likely to read the verdict in their absence, since the court earlier acknowledged they had jumped bail and issued arrest warrants for them.
Thaksin and Potjaman both failed to report to the court on both August 22, as required, after they were allowed bail and went to the Beijing Olympics and then fled to London.
The charge is that Thaksin abused his authority as prime minister at the time in aiding Potjaman to purchase a 13-acre block of land in downtown Bangkok from the Financial Institutions Development Fund under the Bank of Thailand at a deflated price.
The prosecution team has asked the court to seize the land from the couple if they are found guilty.
During the past month, the court has issued two arrest warrants to Thaksin and one to Pojaman because of their absence to the hearings.
Thaksin, who was the Prime Minister during 2001 to 2006, was ousted during a military coup on Sept. 19, 2006. After that, the military installed government launched several charges against him. His assets in Thailand -- total 2 billion U.S. dollars -- were also frozen.
Source:Xinhua
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