BANGKOK -- Thailand's Supreme Court convicted deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of abuse of power and sentenced him to two years in prison for helping his wife secure a land deal.
Thaksin Shinawatra
The verdict is likely to spur ongoing protests against a government aligned with the exiled Mr. Thaksin, further destabilizing this divided nation.
After Mr. Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006, he was charged with a number of corruption-related offenses, all of which he denied, and many of which remain unresolved. He jumped bail in August and fled to Britain, claiming he wouldn't get a fair trial in Thailand. He said Tuesday's conviction was "politically motivated" and "a carry forward of the coup d'état" against him, the Associated Press reported.
The Supreme Court ruled Mr. Thaksin abused his authority by helping his wife purchase a valuable piece of land near Bangkok's business district from a government agency in 2003. The verdict was the first in which a Thai politician was convicted of corruption that occured while serving as prime minister.
It's unclear whether Mr. Thaksin will serve prison time because of the nature of the existing extradition agreement between Britain and Thailand.
Political analysts say the verdict could intensify Thailand's political conflicts and weaken the survival prospects of its current government, which is comprised mostly of pro-Thaksin politicians and headed by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, Mr. Thaksin's brother-in-law.
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Thai protesters in front of a banner calling for the arrest of Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife on Oct. 7.
For the past three years, supporters and critics of Mr. Thaksin have competed in a sometimes violent tussle for power. In late August, thousands of demonstrators seized the main government complex in Bangkok. They are still occupying it in a bid to force Mr. Thaksin's allies from power. Their primary goal is to uproot Thailand's Western-style democracy, which they contend that cash-rich populists such as Mr. Thaksin can easily manipulate, and replace it with a system where bureaucrats and other civic groups have a greater say in selecting parliament.
"This verdict could weaken Mr. Thaksin's support base and embolden his opponents," says Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
The protesters' campaign led to pitched battles with police outside parliament on Oct. 6 in which one person died and more than 400 were injured.
Army commander-in-chief Anupong Paochinda has suggested that Mr. Somchai step down to take responsibility for the Oct. 6 bloodshed, which is threatening to disrupt Thailand's $17 billion-a-year tourism industry at a time when the global financial crisis is also slowing tourist arrivals.
Expectations that the country's revered monarchy would intervene to resolve the conflict rose after King Bhumibol Adulyadej's wife, Queen Sirikit, attended the funeral rites of the demonstrator who died on Oct. 6. King Bhumibol, 80 years old, has occasionally intervened during previous political conflicts, sometimes to protect democratic governments and other times tacitly signing off on military takeovers.
In 2006, King Bhumibol urged Thailand's judiciary to take a more hands-on approach in resolving the country's political problems. Since then, Mr. Thaksin and his allies have suffered a series of legal blows at the hands of Thai courts, which previously had been fearful of taking on the country's powerful politicians.
The Constitutional Court last year ordered the dissolution of Mr. Thaksin's political party for alleged election violations. Last month, the same court ousted one of Mr. Thaksin's successors, former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, for unlawfully accepting payments to host a television cooking show.
In the coming weeks, Thailand's courts will also rule on whether the party Mr. Somchai leads, the People Power Party, should also be disbanded for alleged electoral fraud -- a move that could prompt fresh elections.
"The judicial system's rulings might not be well understood by all Thai people, and the judges may face criticism and even violence," Mr. Panitan says.
Earlier on Tuesday, a small explosion occurred at the home of the president of Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court. Nobody was injured and police say the blast was likely intended to scare rather than harm.
"This is a test case for the courts and their role in Thailand," says Mr. Panitan.
Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@awsj.com
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