Arrest warrant issued for former Thai PM

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‍Thailand's Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant for Yingluck Shinawatra, after the former prime minister failed to appear for the verdict in her negligence trial.

The Supreme Court has set September 27 as the new date to hear the verdict, after she claimed she was too ill to appear.

Local media citing sources close to Yingluck reported that she had fled Thailand ahead of the verdict, but a senior immigration official said that there were no records of her having left the country through proper immigration channels.

Her lawyer, Norawit Larleng, on Friday morning told CGTN that she is still in Thailand.

The case, which has gripped Thailand, stems from a rice subsidy program implemented by Yingluck’s administration.

The policy, which saw her government buy farmers' crops at prices up to 50 percent higher than market rates, was popular with Yingluck’s rural power base but left Thailand with eight billion US dollars in losses.

Yingluck had denied wrongdoing, insisting she was not responsible for the day-to-day management of the scheme and claiming that the case contains multiple flaws.

Supporters of Thailand’s first female prime minister, who was ousted in a military coup in 2014 and impeached by an army-backed legislature in 2015, had gathered outside the Supreme Court in Bangkok to hear the verdict.

Bangkok's metropolitan police said around 4,000 police have been deployed at the court and checkpoints have been set up.

Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party – which has won every election since 2001 – continues to lead in polls ahead of a promised election, and her “red shirt” movement retains strong support in rural communities.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 coup against Yingluck's government, has promised that an election will be held next year.

Yingluck will not be able to run, but the Puea Thai Party is expected to be the largest grouping. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s billionaire brother who was ousted in a 2006 coup, continues to be involved in the party from overseas.