Former Thai PM Thaksin breaks silence on sister Yingluck, denounces 'tyranny', Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Former Thai PM Thaksin breaks silence on sister Yingluck, denounces 'tyranny'

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BANGKOK Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke a long silence yesterday to comment on Twitter following his sister's flight from the country last week.

Yingluck Shinawatra, also a former prime minister and whose government was ousted by the military in 2014, left Thailand last week before a Supreme Court verdict in a negligence case against her.

She had faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Thaksin, in his comment on Twitter, quoted 18th century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu, denouncing judicial tyranny, reported Reuters.

"Montesquieu once said 'There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice'," Thaksin said on his official Twitter page.

The former telecommunications tycoon was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile to avoid a 2008 graft conviction he says was politically motivated.

In a separate development, Thai authorities have contacted Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates in the hunt for Yingluck as they believe she had travelled through one of the countries to escape.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday said his foreign ministry has sought cooperation through diplomatic channels with the six countries and checked immigration points along the Thai border to find Yingluck.

She fled the kingdom shortly before the verdict was announced on her rice-pledging scheme case last week, The Nation newspaper reported.

Mr Prayut said Thailand did not contact Britain - where Yingluck is speculated to have sought political asylum - as he doubted she would qualify for that status.

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