Thailand's Supreme Court today ruled that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had violated a conflict-of-interest law while in office and sentenced him to two years in prison.
The nine judges ruled by five to four that Mr Thaksin, who has been at the heart of Thailand's political crisis over the past three years and now lives in exile in Britain, had got involved in his wife's purchase of land from a central bank fund.
Mr Thaksin said the case was politically motivated. He has said before that he could not expect a fair trial from Thai courts. "I have been informed of the result. I had long anticipated that it would turn out this way," he said.
He denied British media reports he was seeking asylum in Britain. A Thai prosecutor said he would urge Britain to extradite Mr Thaksin now that the court had sentenced him to prison.
The ruling is the first on a spate of corruption charges against the former prime minister and his political associates prepared by graft investigators appointed after a military coup in 2006.
The army removed Mr Thaksin from power because of allegations of rampant corruption during his five years in power. Nearly $2 billion of his family's assets have been frozen in Thai bank accounts.
Reuters