Formal extradition request for Yingluck

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Gaybutton
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Formal extradition request for Yingluck

Post by Gaybutton »

As many of you know, ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for abuse of power and her role in the rice subsidy scandal that caused huge losses for Thailand's rice farmers. Last August she successfully fled Thailand just before she was due in court and is now living in London's west end.

Thailand has now formally requested her extradition to Thailand. At the time of this post there has not yet been an official response from the UK, so it is unknown at this point whether that request will be honored or how long it would take for a decision to be made. Would it take days? Months? Years?

Now that a formal extradition request has been made, does that mean she is under any kind of travel restrictions until the UK decides whether to honor the request?

I assume under UK law she has a right to a hearing before any final decisions are made. If the UK decides to honor the extradition request, it is also unknown when the extradition would take place, how it would take place, and what would happen when she arrives in Thailand.

I have no idea whether she would attempt to flee the UK or where she would go if she does successfully flee.

The article states, "The embassy also asked that its request be 'kept strictly confidential and executed as a matter of urgency'." Obviously the part about keeping the request strictly confidential did not happen.
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Thailand urges UK to return Yingluck to face prosecution

August 01, 2018

By THE NATION

GOVERNMENT SAYS CASE AGAINST FORMER PM INVOLVES CORRUPTION AND IS NOT POLITICAL

THE GOVERNMENT has asked the United Kingdom to extradite fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra for prosecution in Thailand.

The Thai Embassy in London sent a letter dated July 5 to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with attached copies of the Supreme Court verdict in the case against Yingluck, along with her arrest warrant.

The letter cited a 1911 treaty between the United Kingdom and Siam – as Thailand was formerly known – on the extradition of fugitive criminals.

A copy of the Thai Embassy’s letter was published on the BBC Thai news website yesterday.

The Thai mission said it acted on instructions from the Thai government.

However, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday the embassy’s action was part of “normal procedures, and not a policy matter, so they didn’t need to inform me”. The process had started with requests from police and public prosecutors, he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that the decision on whether Yingluck will be extradited lies with the British government.

Thai law enforcers have no authority to make any arrest in a foreign country, he said.

“The government has done everything we can under the legal framework. The foreign country involved will decide whether to send back [Yingluck] as requested,” Prayut said at Government House.

Don said yesterday he did not recall seeing any document seeking his approval on the matter. He also dismissed suggestions that the action stemmed from Prayut’s meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May during his recent visit.

When asked if he was confident the UK authorities would extradite Yingluck, Don just smiled and walked away.

When approached by The Nation yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks |said she had no comment on the matter.

Amnart Chotchai, director of the Office of the Attorney-General's International Affairs Department, said his office coordinated with the Foreign Ministry for the extradition of Yingluck in accordance with the protocol.

“We made it clear that this is a corruption case, not a political case, and hope the British authorities consider the request,” he said.

The current treaty prohibits extradition for political offences.

Amnart said his office made similar requests for the extradition of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, but failed to receive a response.

In its letter to the UK foreign ministry, the Thai Embassy gave assurances that the case against Yingluck was not of a political or a military nature. “She has not been given a pardon or amnesty. And the arrest warrant for the defendant to serve her sentence is not affected by a statute of limitations,” the letter said.

The embassy also asked that its request be “kept strictly confidential and executed as a matter of urgency”.

The Thai mission also maintained that Yingluck’s extradition could be granted under the treaty even if the British government considered that her offence was not included in the list of extraditable offences.

The embassy cited a clause in the treaty stating: “Extradition may also be granted at the discretion of the State applied to in respect of any other crime for which, according to the law of both the Contracting Parties for the time being in force, the grant can be made.”

Yingluck is believed to be residing in the UK. Photos and video clips of her in different locations around London have been distributed on social media. One video clip shows Yingluck with her older brother ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra celebrating his birthday last week.

Thaksin also has been living in self-exile overseas, escaping imprisonment after also having been convicted at home.

Yingluck fled the country in August last year, a few days before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division on Political Office Holders was scheduled to deliver a verdict in the case against her.

In September, the court sentenced Yingluck to five years in jail for malfeasance in connection with her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

During his visit to the UK in June, Prayut said Thai nationals should not live as “second-class citizens” overseas while escaping Thai law. He did not identify Thaksin or Yingluck by name.

“They should come back and fight under the law,” he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... s/30351176
Up2u

Re: Formal extradition request for Yingluck

Post by Up2u »

Not going to happen.....​she's already been given a 10 year visa.
fountainhall

Re: Formal extradition request for Yingluck

Post by fountainhall »

I do find it very strange that an extradition order has gone out for Yingkuck. What about another convicted felon, her brother Thaksin? He's been at large for well over a decade and seems to roam the world free as a bird. Come to think about it, how about the Red Bull heir who has equally been free as a bird although he is alleged (and I hate using that word in this particular case having followed it from the start) to have murdered a traffic policeman in cold blood and then attempted to have a family retainer take the blame? In this last case alcohol and drugs were found in his toxicology reports. That case has been waiting six years for resolution in the Courts. Each time this young brat found an excuse to miss Court hearings and then fled the country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39427291

Interpol was apparently alerted but only less than a year ago. And the excuse given by the government was that Interpol could do nothing in apprehending him because the government could not give Interpol an address!!! What? So all those in Interpol's list of the world's wanted men and women require an address? Surely that has to be nonsense! The Red Bull F1 team races about 20 times each year in various parts of the world. I suggest all Interpol need do is park an officer or two at the private jet terminals at these Fi venues. But then some billionaires will always find ways (bribes!) to circumvent the law.
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Re: Formal extradition request for Yingluck

Post by Gaybutton »

Up2u wrote:​she's already been given a 10 year visa.
That doesn't necessarily mean the UK won't revoke her visa. And even with a visa, a visa is not protection from extradition or deportation.

It will be interesting to see what happens. If she is forced to return to Thailand, I wonder how her supporters will respond.
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Re: Formal extradition request for Yingluck

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‘Yingluck did not flee UK; Dubai flight was pre-planned’

August 03, 2018

By THE NATION

FORMER PRIME minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s flight from London to Dubai on Wednesday had nothing to do with the Thai government’s extradition request to the United Kingdom, a Pheu Thai Party source said yesterday.

The flight was part of Yingluck’s travel plans for this year, said the source who requested anonymity.

“It’s normal for Thaksin [Shinawatra] and Yingluck to fly to Dubai. All their itineraries were set long in advance,” said the source, a senior Pheu Thai figure.

The source effectively dismissed media reports suggesting that the former PM had hurriedly left London after the Thai authorities formally requested their UK counterparts to extradite her so that she could serve her prison term.

Yingluck reportedly left London on Wednesday, just a day after the media reported the Thai government’s extradition request.

The Thai Embassy in London, acting upon instructions from the government in Bangkok, sent a letter dated July 5 to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It cited a 1911 treaty between the United Kingdom and Siam – as Thailand was known at the time – on the extradition of fugitive criminals.

Attached to the letter were copies of a verdict by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in a case against Yingluck, along with her arrest warrant.

A copy of the Thai Embassy’s letter was published on the BBC Thai news website on Tuesday.

The Pheu Thai source yesterday said that the UK was unlikely to extradite Yingluck, as the case against her was political and even the court’s name had the word “political”. Even if Yingluck were arrested in the UK, a court battle against the extradition request would take at least two to three years, the source added.

The source also said that after Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Yingluck was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong and China. Former PM Thaksin planned to travel to Switzerland, the United States and Britain, the source added, but did not give further details about the siblings’ itineraries.

“Thaksin has his business in many countries and he has to travel all the time. Yingluck often joins him for the trips. Thaksin wants to teach her about doing business,” the source said.

Thaksin has purchased a house in England for Yingluck, his youngest sister for “many million pounds” for her to stay while there, according to another Pheu Thai source.

Yingluck fled Thailand in August last year, just a few days before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders was scheduled to deliver a verdict in the case against her. In September, the court sentenced her to five years in jail for malfeasance in connection with her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

For the past months, photos and video clips of Yingluck at different locations in London were distributed on social media. One video clip showed Yingluck with Thaksin and some Pheu Thai politicians celebrating his birthday in London last week.

Thaksin also has been living in self-exile overseas, escaping imprisonment at home after being convicted for abuse of power. He was charged after his government was deposed in a 2006 military coup.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... s/30351332
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