Former Thailand prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra will face trial for negligence over a controversial rice subsidy scheme, BBC reports.
Ex-prime minister to stand trial for negligence
Thailand's Supreme Court ordered the former prime minister to stand trial for gross negligence.
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Thailand's Supreme Court ordered the former prime minister to stand trial for gross negligence. She faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and has been banned from politics for 5 years.
Yingluck's government was toppled by a military coup after months of protest; she was retroactively impeached for her role in the rice subsidy scheme by a military-appointed legislature.
In February, Thailand's attorney general then filed criminal charges against Ms Yingluck, accusing her of dereliction of duty.
According to reports, the rice scheme paid rice farmers in the rural areas - the Shinawatra support base - twice the market rate for their crops, in a programme that cost the government billions of dollars.
Yingluck, however denied being a part of the everyday running of the scheme's operation , saying it was an attempt to support the rural poor.
This is the latest turn in the political turbulence that began when Ms Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra was removed by a previous coup in 2006.
The family's influence however remains with parties allied to the Shinawatras winning every election since 2001.
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