Ousted Thai PM Thaksin ordered to return, answer corruption charge

Bangkok, Jun 19 (UNI) Thai investigators today ordered former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra to return to the country to answer corruption charges along with his wife.

Mr Shinwatra has been living abroad, mainly in London, since he was toppled in a bloodless coup by the military on September 19 last year.

Since the takeover, coup leaders and the interim civilian government set up by them have been advising Mr Shinwatra to stay away from the country for the sake of national reconciliation.

There is widespread apprehension that the return of Mr Shinwatra, who was one of the most popular politicians Thailand had seen with widespread mass support in the countryside, could trigger a wave of protests against the military regime.

The chief of the special probe set up to investigate corruption charges against Mr Shinwatra, a former telecom tycoon who is one of the country's richest persons, today said an arrest warrant would be issued for the ousted prime minister if he failed to show up in person next week to accept the charges.

Last month, Thailand's Constitutional Tribunal ordered the dissolution of Mr Shinwatra's Thai Rak Thai party, which gave Thailand its first single party democratically elected government.

The Thai Rak Thai's main members, including Mr Shinwatra, were also barred from public life for five years.

Supporters of the ousted leader have been organising weekend protest rallies in Bangkok demanding the return of democracy.

UNI