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113763
Sat, 03/27/2010 - 16:57
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http://m.oananews.org//node/113763
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FM Kasit: Thaksin would have shown new evidence earlier 'if he really has it'
HUA HIN, March 27 (TNA) -- Fugitive, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would have submitted new evidence to the courts earlier if indeed he really possesses such, to contest the February 26 ruling to seize Bt46.37 billion of his frozen assets, Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Kasit Piromya said Saturday.
Mr Kasit told journalists that lawyers of Mr Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006, would have received new evidence relating to frozen assets since last year and appealed the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions’ ruling which had ordered the seizure of Bt46.37 billion of his frozen assets.
His remarks were made after legal advisers of Mr Thaksin’s family on Friday submitted appeals against the ruling by the court in a bid to seek an injunction to delay the assets seizure.
The Supreme Court will later select a five-judge panel to consider whether to accept the submitted appeals.
Mr Kasit said it is the duty of Thai ambassadors and consulates to monitor movements of Mr Thaksin and inform the ministry while it is up to a cooperation from the country which grants a temporary asylum to the ousted premier in extraditing him to Thailand.
Mr Thaksin avoided his two-year prison sentence after being found guilty for a conflict of interest and malfeasance when he was prime minister to help his then wife purchase prime land near Ratchadapisek Road.
On reports that the Saudi Arabian government has denied entry to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot, Mr Kasit said they were untrue but that the Saudi government remains quitel unhappy with three of four pending cases, which have dragged on for several decades.
The cases were part of the 1980s gems scandal and the murders of four Saudi diplomats and the disappearance of a Saudi businessman in Bangkok who is preseumed dead.
The case dates to the late 1980s when Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai worker employed in the palace of the Saudi crown prince, stole jewellery and other valuables from the Saudi royal family's palace and escaped with a cache of treasure to his Lampang home.
Thai police retrieved some of the stolen items, but a number of valuable gems and pieces of jewelry pieces were not recovered.
Moreover, when the recovered treasures were returned to Saudi Arabia, the main jewel, the Blue Diamond, proved to be artificial, having have been replaced with an artificial stone along with other pieces of paste.
Relations between the two countries have not progressed and it is the duty of Thai judicial agencies to more quickly solve the cases, said Mr Kasit. (TNA)
Mr Kasit told journalists that lawyers of Mr Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006, would have received new evidence relating to frozen assets since last year and appealed the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions’ ruling which had ordered the seizure of Bt46.37 billion of his frozen assets.
His remarks were made after legal advisers of Mr Thaksin’s family on Friday submitted appeals against the ruling by the court in a bid to seek an injunction to delay the assets seizure.
The Supreme Court will later select a five-judge panel to consider whether to accept the submitted appeals.
Mr Kasit said it is the duty of Thai ambassadors and consulates to monitor movements of Mr Thaksin and inform the ministry while it is up to a cooperation from the country which grants a temporary asylum to the ousted premier in extraditing him to Thailand.
Mr Thaksin avoided his two-year prison sentence after being found guilty for a conflict of interest and malfeasance when he was prime minister to help his then wife purchase prime land near Ratchadapisek Road.
On reports that the Saudi Arabian government has denied entry to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot, Mr Kasit said they were untrue but that the Saudi government remains quitel unhappy with three of four pending cases, which have dragged on for several decades.
The cases were part of the 1980s gems scandal and the murders of four Saudi diplomats and the disappearance of a Saudi businessman in Bangkok who is preseumed dead.
The case dates to the late 1980s when Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai worker employed in the palace of the Saudi crown prince, stole jewellery and other valuables from the Saudi royal family's palace and escaped with a cache of treasure to his Lampang home.
Thai police retrieved some of the stolen items, but a number of valuable gems and pieces of jewelry pieces were not recovered.
Moreover, when the recovered treasures were returned to Saudi Arabia, the main jewel, the Blue Diamond, proved to be artificial, having have been replaced with an artificial stone along with other pieces of paste.
Relations between the two countries have not progressed and it is the duty of Thai judicial agencies to more quickly solve the cases, said Mr Kasit. (TNA)
