Shinawatra issued arrest warrant

Thailand's Supreme Court has issued a warrant for the arrest
of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on corruption charges.
The
ruling came after Mr Thaksin and his wife failed to attend court in the Thai
capital, Bangkok.
The court was to hear the first of a series of cases being
brought against the former leader, who was ousted in a military coup last
year.

-BBC.co.uk

The first day of the Shinawatra trail over in Thailand actually achieved little angible progress, merely that the recommendation was that Shinawatra and his wife should be subject to an arrest warrant ahead of a new trial date of late September. Shinawatra's lawyers had asked for delay in the trial due to them deeming it unsafe for him to travel back to the country at this time.


It is probably an unsuprising manoevre, and for those political consipiracists out there probably a reaction to our opening day win to try and dent his popularity!


Joking aside, Shinawatra has already announced he would not return until after elections have been held so he seemingly won't voluntarily return at this time, leaving a possible course of action for the UK to extradite him back to Thailand.


Although there is an extradition treaty agreement in place between the countries on a case by case basis, if this move occurred it would certainly be subject to a (lengthy) legal challenge by Shinawatra and I am sure is something that the government (and the Premier League) would look to avoid becoming involved in.


Shinawatra has issued a brief statement - “I am aware of the decision in Thailand. I shall consult with my legal advisers and make an announcement in due course.”


Whilst this is seemingly set to run on for a good while yet, it seems very much in the pre-amble stages with the current Thai government trying (unsuccesfully at the moment) to bring him to trial on their terms whilst Shinawatra appearing able to set his own timetable for returning - and let us not forget that he has been in the UK for around a year until he took control at City without any trial proceedings being brought against him.


As an odd onto this, there was a profile of Shinawatra in this weeks Observer and of everything I have read it was probably the most balanced and in-depth look at him I have come across.