Thaksin rejects 'political' court verdict

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he believed that "democratically mature" England would not extradite him although the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political office Holders found him guilty of corruption and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Thaksin said he was confident he would be able to remain in Britain despite a new arrest warrant issued against him Tuesday by the Bangkok court. He already has several warrants out for him in other corruption cases.

``I think I can stay here because this is very mature democratic country,'' Thaksin told The Associated Press by telephone from his home near London.

``There is no way I will be extradited because the (Thai) court is a political court.''

The former telecommunications tycoon said he now hopes to become a prominent businessman in the UK, possibly in the energy business.

A prosecutor said Tuesday the Thai attorney-general's office would speed up efforts to extradite Thaksin from Britain. Thai authorities have yet to file a formal extradition request.

The charges stemmed from Thaksin enabling his wife Pojaman Shinawatra to pay 772 million baht in 2003 to buy a 13.2-acre (5.3-hectare) plot in central Bangkok from the Financial Institutions Development Fund, a government agency set up to bail out debt-ridden banks.

Thaksin said he would expose the flaws of the court by distributing translations of testimony from the case to the international community.

``They don't use the rule of the law as evidence, they follow the politics,'' he said. ``They try to use the court to manage politics. I think the British people and the world understand that isn't democracy.''

Pojaman, 51, was acquitted by the court Tuesday.

``I'm very happy for her, but my wife has done nothing wrong and is not a politician,'' said Thaksin, 59. ``This court is for politicians _ it's not a normal court.''

Billionaire Thaksin jumped bail and fled to Britain while the corruption charges were pending. He has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.

``I'm a politician and after I was toppled by the coup it's normal that they will try every means to justify it,'' he said. Thaksin appealed for unity in his divided nation. 

"Thai democracy is at the crossroads,'' Thaksin said. ``I would like to urge everyone concerned to give freedom to the Thai people to exercise democratic power. Don't think that they are less educated, they are poor _ I think they have better understanding of democracy than many who have had better education.'' 

 Meanwhile Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called for the fugitive Thaksin should humble himself and accept his verdict and sentencing on the Ratchadapisek land case.

"The verdict on Thaksin is just and the trouble can dissipate if all sides obey the judicial decision," he said.

Abhisit warned Thaksin that it was a futile exercise to smear the judiciary in order to make political gains. He was speaking in reference to Thaksin's remarks from London that he had anticipated his conviction because his case was politically motivated. 

Thaksin should not try to ensure his sole survival at the expense of society, Abhisit said, pointing out that Thai citizens are suffering despair caused by polarised politics.

People's Alliance for Democracy leader Pipop Thongchai said Thaksin had no right to be critical of his conviction because he fled to England instead of standing trial.

Pipop said the Thai judiciary is always fair and just, but Thaksin has decided to waiver his right to defend himself.

He added that Thaksin should reflect on himself before criticising others, because it was his defence team that got caught trying to pass Bt2 million in cash as bribes to court officials.

Opposition chief whip Sathit Wongnongtoey called on the prime minister to take swift action and extradite Thaksin to serve his jail term.

Chief prosecutor in charge of foreign affairs, Sirisak Tiyaphan said he was preparing to launch the extradition request to bring Thaksin back for imprisonment.

Under the two key provisions of the AngloThai Treaty, the extradition is warranted if the fugitive convict is penalised by a jail term of more than one year and if the conviction involves wrongdoing deemed an offence both by English and Thai laws.