The Shinawatra family fight back

The Shinawatra family members each had there own lawyers and they put up a strong case for the charges to be dropped.

You will also want to see the case against the Shinawatras and the programme of their red-shirted supporters.

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The case for the defence

The lawyers for Mr Thaksin and his family members have denied all charges against them. They allege members of the Assets Scrutiny Committee were hand-picked by the coup makers and were biased against the former prime minister.  

In Mr Thaksin’s  closing statement to the Court, he denied he covered up his shares in Shin Corp — which made most of the 76 billion baht through the sale of the shares — by putting them in proxy accounts held by his children and other relatives.

He also denied his government issued measures that caused the price of Shin Corp shares to surge.  Mr Thaksin said the price of Shin Corp shares had gone up as a result of increased demand during a time of economic prosperity.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing Khunying Potjaman presented a closing statement rebutting the prosecution case by focusing on 16 key areas.

Through her lawyers, Khunying Potjaman said she had acquired her wealth legally between 1983 and 2000 before her husband became prime minister.

She also had turned much of her wealth over to her children and her brother through gifts and sales.

She denied that she and her husband had concealed wealth through shell companies.

Two of Thaksin Shinawatra’s adult children, Panthongtae and Pinthongta are also insisting they held Shin Corp shares in their own right, and their holdings should be spared if the court rules that their father’s fortune should be confiscated by the state.
 
They say they were not nominees holding assets on behalf of their father, so the state should release their 40 billion baht share of the 76 billion baht which it seized from from Mr Thaksin and his family. 

allege – to say that something is true or that someone has done something wrong, even though this has not been proved  กล่าวหา
defence – the people in a court case who try to prove that someone is not guilty การเป็นทนายให้
hand-picked – specially chosen
biased – unfair; preferring one person, thing, or idea to another in a way that is unfair ลำเอียง
deny – to say that something is not true or does not exist ปฏิเสธ
proxy – a person or company who acts for another person or company ตัวแทน
measure – an action that is intended to achieve or deal with something มาตราการ
prosperity – the situation of being successful and having a lot of money ความมั่งคั่ง
rebut – to show or say that something is not true โต้แย้ง, โต้ตอบ
spare – to prevent someone from having to experience something unpleasant ยกโทษให้,อภัยโทษ
nominee – a arrangement whereby investments are held by a a person or company on behalf of the real owner ผู้รับถือหุ้นให้บุคคลอื่นที่ไม่ต้องการจะเปิดเผยตัวตน
on behalf of – as a representative of ในนามของ ในฐานะของ

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:59 PM