Travel request rejected

The Supreme Court last week rejected former premier Thaksin Shina-watra's request to travel abroad on the grounds that his planned trip could not be justified at this time.

In a writ lodged on June 24, Thaksin asked for the court's permission to begin his trip on June 27, but the nine-judge Criminal Tribunal for Political Office Holders reminded him about the close proximity between his trial date and the foreign trip's schedule.

The ousted premier is due to face his first graft trial next Tuesday involving the Ratchadaphisek land case in which he is alleged to have abused his power while in office.

Kamnuan Chalopratham, Thaksin's lawyer, said yesterday the former premier was considering filing an appeal with the court against the current ban on international travel since such an order has affected his overseas businesses.

On June 24, Thaksin told the court that he would have to make three consecutive overseas trips - a two-legged visit to China and England followed by another two-legged trip to China and Japan. His final visit was planned for China.

According to sources, the court's rejection applied solely to the June 24 application without prejudicing future requests.

From July 8 to July 29, Thaksin's trial will hear 22 prosecution witnesses. This will be followed by the hearing of 22 defence witnesses, scheduled for completion on August 22.

The tribunal has set aside three extra days, August 26, August 29 and September 2, for a wrap-up of witness testimonies. Then the proceedings will move on to a hearing of closing statements before a verdict is scheduled.

In a related development, the Supreme Court yesterday convened the full bench to elect nine presiding judges for the graft tribunal responsible for the trial to consider the Exim Bank loan involving Thaksin.

The tribunal will convene a first hearing on July 30 to rule on whether to launch a judicial review.

The former prime minister has been accused of abuse of power to enrich himself and his family's business relating to the extension of a Bt4-billion loan to finance a satellite telecom deal in Burma.

The nine tribunal judges comprise the Supreme Court vice president Panya Suthibodi, his colleague Mongkol Thabthiang, five chief judges heading divisions of the Supreme Court and two senior judges.

Regarding the tax evasion case involving Thaksin's wife Khunying Pojaman, the Criminal Court has scheduled a session today to read out the high court's verdict denying the defence permission to raise constitutional arguments.

Pojaman's defence team questioned the mandate of the Assets Examination Committee to prosecute her and two defendants, her brother Bannaphot Damapong and her secretary Kanchanapa Honghern. The defence claimed that the AEC had been authorised to probe office holders but not the three defendants.

In the unanimous ruling of nine votes, the Constitution Court disagreed with the defence.

Since the hearing of witnesses was completed on May 30, it is expected that the court might schedule a verdict after reading out the high court's ruling.