Prosecutors from Thailand are in London today to press for
the extradition of the ousted billionaire prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, the new owner of Manchester City, on corruption
charges. Their visit to see Home Office officials is the latest
move in an aggressive campaign by the military junta that deposed
Thaksin last September in a bloodless coup while he was in New York
at the UN general assembly.
He has since lived in high-profile exile in London with a £4.5m
mansion in Weybridge, Surrey, and a rented flat in Park Lane owned
by his friend and Fulham FC owner Mohammed al Fayed. In June he
bought Manchester City for £81.6m and installed two of his three
children on the board.
Warrants for the arrest of Thaksin, 58, and his wife Potjaman have
been issued in Thailand in the past few weeks, and £1.3bn of family
assets in the country have been frozen. In a related development
this week, the Thai anti-corruption body, the Assets Scrutiny
Committee, said it would file criminal charges against Thaksin's
25-year-old daughter Pinthongta - a Manchester City director and a
student at the London School of Economics - over her refusal to
answer questions about the family's share dealings when she
unexpectedly turned up for a committee hearing in Bangkok. She
handed over a letter saying it would be unacceptable to give
evidence that could bring about negative consequences for her
parents.
Thaksin has repeatedly denied the charges, claiming they are
politically motivated. A spokesman for his public relations firm,
Bell Pottinger, said he was aware of the officials' visit but had
no further comment. If convicted of dishonesty, Thaksin will have
to relinquish control of City under the Premier League's
"fit-and-proper person test" - a move that would sorely disappoint
City fans who have made it clear they are more interested in his
wealth than his reputation.
With Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager and the team riding high in the
Premier League, few are concerned about Human Rights Watch
describing him as "a human-rights abuser of the worst kind" - a
commentary on the 2,500 petty drug dealers and users who were
summarily killed in a ferocious war-on-drugs blitz in 2003.
Last month, Thai embassy officials discreetly started the
extradition process with a visit to the Home Office seeking advice
on implementing the 1911 extradition treaty between the two
countries. A central issue was whether the charges were covered in
the treaty.
The first alleges that he used his influence for his wife to buy a
piece of choice Bangkok real estate for a third of its estimated
value. The second, added later, involves allegedly illegal
transactions in the tax-free sale of the family telecoms business,
Shin Corp, to a Singapore state company early last year through an
opaque off-shore structure. Legislation allowing foreign entities
to own up to 49% of Thai telecoms companies was passed only four
days before the sale.
Together with allegations of rampant cronyism, a disastrous
military campaign against separatist Muslims, and an arrogant
propensity to muzzle his critics, it was the Shin Corp sale that
sparked opposition outrage and ultimately the military coup.
The junta, which has promised new elections at the end of December,
may have an uphill battle in pressing their case. The British
government has little appetite for assisting a military junta
putting on trial a legitimately elected politician. And Thaksin has
retained the services of Clare Montgomery QC - the defender for
General Pinochet in his extradition battle - who could mount a
convincing case that, under the Human Rights Act, he would not get
a fair trial.