BANGKOK: Thailand's military government has denied former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra permission to travel overseas to ensure she is in the country to face criminal charges later this month, a government spokesman said on Sunday,
The military toppled the remnants of Yingluck's government in a coup last May, ending months of demonstrations on the streets of Bangkok that had paralysed her administration.
Yingluck was last week banned from politics for five years and indicted on criminal charges over her involvement in a state rice buying scheme that cost Thailand billions of dollars.
The attorney general will submit a subpoena to the Supreme Court on Feb. 19, and wants Yingluck to be present for that, government spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said on Sunday.
Yingluck had asked for permission to leave from Sunday until Feb. 22, he said.
"The suspect must be present for the first process of the case otherwise the case cannot proceed," Sunsern said.
Yingluck's lawyer, Norawit Laleng, said it was not necessary for her to appear in court for at least two months while prosecutors consider the case and chose judges to oversee it.
"If the NCPO (junta) denies her permission to travel using her court case as an excuse, then it is a violation of her basic rights," Norawit told Reuters.
