January 23, 2008
BANGKOK - Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand in May to defend himself against corruption charges, according to his wife Khunying Pojaman.
Pojaman Shinawatra did not speak during the 15-minute hearing at the Supreme Court, and only smiled at reporters as she left the building.
She pleaded not guilty in a written filing, which was read out by the judges in court. Her statement said Thaksin, who has also been charged over the same controversial land deal, would return in May to defend himself, according to AFP.
Thaksin has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since the military toppled his government in September 2006.
The PPP’s victory has opened the door for Thaksin to return to Thailand, but analysts say that he will first have to find a way to settle a slate of corruption charges already filed against him.
Pojaman and Thaksin each face up to 13 years in prison over two graft charges alleging she used her husband's political influence to buy prime Bangkok property from a government agency at about one third of its estimated value.
"The purchase of the land was legal. Everything was done according to the law," her lawyer Noppadol Pattama told reporters after the hearing.
The next hearing was set for April 29, when Pojaman will be asked to submit evidence and a list of witnesses in her defence.
Spending more than six months overseas with her husband,the 51-year-old Pojaman returned to the kingdom earlier this month.
Pojaman and Thaksin also face separate criminal charges accusing them of fraudulent filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission over the 2003 listing of a property company.
Pojaman, her step-brother Banpot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchanapa Honghern also face additional criminal charges of tax evasion. They have pleaded not guilty in the case.
