Thailand’s former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has entered a plea of not guilty at the start of a trial that could see her jailed for a decade, with critics saying the charges are part of a politically motivated campaign against her family.
Supporters chanted “Yingluck! Yingluck!” as the ex-premier entered the Supreme Court in Bangkok on Tuesday to be formally read the charges against her of dereliction of duty in overseeing a rice subsidy scheme that lost billions of dollars.
“I am confident in my innocence,” Yingluck told reporters. “I hope the court will grant me justice, and that everything will go according to due process under the law.”
Yingluck posted bail set at $900,000 and was ordered by the court not to travel outside Thailand without permission during her trial. The next hearing was set for July 21.
Yingluck was ousted from her post as prime minister by a court decision that came two weeks before the military staged a coup last May.