Ousted Thai premier Shinawatra facing criminal charges

Yingluck Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister of Thailand who was deposed by a coup in May, said democracy in her country was dead after the military junta impeached her over a rice subsidy scheme, and banned her from politics for five years.

"Democracy is dead in Thailand, along with the rule of law," Ms Yingluck wrote on her Facebook page.

“I will fight to prove my innocence, regardless of the result. I want to stand side-by-side with the Thai people. Together we must bring Thailand progress, return democracy and create a fair and just Thai society.”

During nearly three years in power, there was always a question of how much of a pawn Ms Yingluck was of her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was also ousted by military coup in 2006 and whom many saw as still wielding potentially divisive power in Thailand, even though he lives in exile in Dubai.

Martial law

Thailand is still under martial law and unauthorised political meetings are banned. Ms Yingluck’s supporters were ordered to stay out of

Bangkok

and chances of another bout of urban unrest similar to those seen in recent years look slim.

At the same time, the junta's move to go after Ms Yingluck will do little to ease tensions in Thailand, which is still politically divided between the poor rural supporters of the Shinawatra family and the royalist-military urban faction, which hates Mr Thaksin and the populist tactics that made him impossible to beat in elections.

Ms Yingluck will face criminal charges in the Thai supreme court over a rice subsidy scheme that cost billions of dollars, and which many saw as a form of vote-buying among the Shinawatra electoral strongholds of rural Thailand and the northeast.

If convicted, Ms Yingluck faces up to 10 years in jail, the attorney general’s office said.

Ms Yingluck defended the rice scheme and disputed the charges in a hearing at the National Legislative Assembly, which is now appointed by the junta, led by former army chief prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

About 100 of the 220 members of the NLA are former or serving military officers.

In her Facebook post Ms Yingluck defended the rice subsidy programme, which critics say was wasteful and corrupt. “It was a good scheme . . . used as a tool in my political destruction,” she wrote.

The military was keen to keep a lid on any show of dissent.

"Political gatherings cannot happen as we are still under martial law," junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree said, and Ms Yingluck was forbidden to give a news conference after the verdict.