FUGITIVE former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke his long silence yesterday by hitting out at “tyranny under the shield of law and in the name of justice” in a Twitter post.

It was his first public reaction since his sister and ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra failed to show up for the verdict reading at the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders last Friday in the negligence case stemming from her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

Meanwhile, none of the three armed forces –Army, Air Force and Navy – has yet been able to establish which channel Yingluck used to escape from Thailand, supreme commander General Surapong Suwana-adth said yesterday.

In response to speculation that military figures gave Yingluck help to flee, Surapong said that if any officers had been found to be involved in such a scheme, they would be prosecuted.

Thaksin yesterday quoted 18th-century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu in his latest tweets both in English and Thai.

“Montesquieu once said, ‘There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice’,” his tweet said.

In response, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said Thaksin should be left alone to do whatever he wants. “Let him be. What can a Twitter message do? If you want to believe him, be my guest. Think about that,” Prayut said, pointing a finger at his head.

Yingluck reportedly fled the country and sources said that she was reunited with Thaksin in Dubai before the day of her verdict, although authorities have not confirmed her whereabouts.

She has been accused of dereliction of duty and malfeasance for allegedly failing to put an end to the controversial rice-subsidy policy plagued with corruption. Critics and her supporters, however, perceive the case as part of a political game in a long-standing power struggle.

Yingluck faced up to 10 years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics had the court convicted her. But she failed to appear, forcing the court to delay its ruling until late next month and issue a warrant for her arrest.

Thaksin’s tweet yesterday was his first after two years. In his last post in 2015, Thaksin responded to the deadly bombing attack at Ratchaprasong Intersection, extending sympathy to those affected and denouncing the act.

“That tweet after so long reflects Thaksin’s anger,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a former Thai diplomat and an academic at Kyoto University.

“I suspect Yingluck and Thaksin will continue to find a political space in Thailand from overseas … they want to take revenge” on their enemies, he was quoted by AFP as saying.

Ousted by a military coup in 2006, Thaksin has kept a low profile while living in self-exile overseas for almost a decade. He fled the country in 2008, a few months before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders sentenced him in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power.

Besides actions by the Pheu Thai Party, which many believe to be Thaksin’s proxy, the former PM rarely made any direct political moves. He only sends very occasional political messages through his personal social media accounts. He uses Instagram and Facebook as well as Twitter.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities have yet to receive any response from other countries regarding Yingluck’s suspected escape, according to Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

“We still have no exact idea of where Yingluck is. But we are certain that her escape won’t affect public trust in the government,” Prawit said yesterday.

Thailand had contacted Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates via diplomatic channels to trace Yingluck’s possible whereabouts, Prayut said on Tuesday.

National police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda reiterated yesterday that there were still no responses from other countries about Yingluck and that the normal immigration channels did not hold records indicating that she had passed through the country’s borders.

Chakthip added that police were considering whether to summon 14 people close to Yingluck who, according to CCTV records, were in her company for lunch at a hotel last Wednesday, when the ex-PM was last seen publicly before her disappearance.

Prayut yesterday refused to comment further about Yingluck’s escape. He said that the country’s situation was now improving, with rising prices on the stock market.

“If the country is peaceful, without political problems and things go in line with the justice system, the situation will not be volatile. Everybody should help to bring about peace,” he said.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders earlier this month acquitted former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew.

They had been found not guilty in relation to the police crackdown in October 2008 that left two people dead and more than 400 injured.

The NACC, as the plaintiff in the case, claimed it had thoroughly reviewed all the evidence and only disagreed with the acquittal of Suchart, who it said had been an operational commander and thus was very familiar with procedures to be followed on the day of the protests.He also had the authority to issue orders to change the course of action but failed to do so, said the NACC, so it was correct to challenge his acquittal.

The PAD, however, viewed the decision not to appeal the three other acquittals as being unjust to yellow-shirt victims.

It claimed this was equivalent to helping the other three, despite the fact that the NACC’s own indictment report made clear that all the four were guilty.

Panthep Puapongpan, a former PAD spokesperson, said the decision not to challenge three of the acquittals would make people believe the NACC’s decision was biased.

The PAD would seek legal options to charge the NACC for the way it had handled the case, he said.

Suriyasai Katasila, the PAD’s ex-coordinator, said the NACC would do everything it could to ensure justice was done.

The CDC insisted there are facts proving that the recruiting process of the current commissioners was not accepted by the International Coordinating Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights which had downgraded the Thai NHRC – the prime organ protecting human rights in the country. The CDC stood firm on its version, which would result in the dismissal of the human rights commissioners, Udom said. It said the stipulation would resolve the acceptance issue that the international panel had with the Thai NHRC and required that the commission is made up of more diverse members, the spokesman said.

Allowing the current NHRC members to complete their term was not a solution to the downgrade, he said. And allowing them to rerun for the position in line with the new law would only cause another chain of problems, Udom said. Other agencies suffering the reset might ask for the same treatment, he said.

Udom said the conflicting ideas of the CDC and the NHRC should not bring disharmony between the two, as they were just differences in perspectives.

A joint law review committee is to be set up following disagreement over the issue. The CDC yesterday revealed it would send five members – Norachit Sinhaseni, Juree Wijitwatakarn, Thienchai Na Nakorn, Pakorn Nilprapan, and Vira Rojanavat – to join the panel.

Earlier, What claimed that the attempt to remove human rights commissioners might have stemmed from the dissatisfaction of “those in power” with certain commissioners.

What criticised the CDC’s spokesperson team as having no authority to raise objections to the NHRC as that is the work of the joint law review committee, not the team. “It’s inappropriate,” he said.

The CDC’s objections, he said, were not correct.

The Myanmar top commander met with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan separately to brief the Thai leaders on the situation and other issues concerning bilateral ties.

The situation of the Rohingya – who, using the term preferred by his Myanmar counterpart, Prawit referred to as “Bengalis” – was now under control and would have no implications for Thailand. “They might not be able to take boat trips to land in Thailand,” Prawit said.

Prime Minister Prayut said Thailand needed to provide assistant on a humanitarian basis if any refugees arrived in the Kingdom. “But when the situation returns to normal, we have to send them back home,” he said.

At least 18,500 Muslim Rohingya have fled to the border with Bangladesh since militants of the Araka Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) equipped with home explosive devices, machetes and few small arms attacked 30 security outposts in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung township in Rakhine since last Friday.

A heavy handed operation by the Tatmadaw – the Myanmar military – left more than 100 people, including a dozen security officials, dead. “General Min Aung Hliang told me that the Myanmar army also lost in the battle,” Prawit told reporters.

There has been communal conflict in Rakhine state since 2012 when anti-Muslim sentiment fanned out in the country. Violence has killed hundreds of people and displaced more than 100,000 Rohingya since then. Many of them have taken the dangerous journey from the state and border areas with Bangladesh across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, including Thailand.

Muslim Rohingya receive poor treatment from the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar authorities, who call them Bengalis and deny them citizenship. Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan led an Advisory Commission that released its final report last Wednesday, recommending measures to address Rohingya grievances, including giving them citizenship rights.

Prayut said Myanmar needed some more time to fix up the complex problem in Rakhine. “We don’t intervene in their domestic affairs. [I understand that] Myanmar authorities do support and develop Rakhine state,” he said.

During the meeting, Min Aung Hlaing told Prayut that it would take time solve the problem in Rakhine state, as the solution must be based on trust and a confidence- building process, according to a Thai government assistant spokesperson, Athisit Chaiyanuwat.

The Myanmar commander in chief also thanked the Thai authorities for providing good care to migrants workers from Myanmar, and said that authorities in Myanmar were ready to cooperate with Thailand for mutual benefit, Athisit said.

Min Aung Hlaing was in Thailand for the fifth meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar High Level Committee, which was held in Northeastern Khon Kaen province on Tuesday. Myanmar and Thai armed forces are cementing trust and friendly relations between the two countries and the two armed forces, he said during the opening of the meeting.

As the meeting is of importance for property and security issues of the people of two countries, he said “it would bring peace and stability to the border region between the two countries and good benefit to the residents from the border region”.

So far, five of the bills have already been passed by the NLA. CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said the CDC would submit the Auditor General bill and the Constitution Court procedures bill, and was now expediting the corruption curbing bill which would comprise 233 articles, he said.

The last two would be on the recruitment of the MPs and the Senate. The CDC has already laid out the ground rules for those articles, and they are now being written into a proper law, he said.

Korbkiart Kasiwiwat, Corrections director general, said the Klong Prem Central Prison where Boonsong is being detained, has no medical treatment facility, so he had to seek help from doctors at the Central Prison Hospital, which is next door.

Korbkiart said Boonsong informed prison guards that he had a headache, so he was allowed to go to the hospital, which has a connecting door with the prison.

It was found that he had developed high blood pressure, with a systolic level of 160 (compared to the normal level of 120). Doctors believe this was caused by stress.

The department chief added that Boonsong might be worried too much or might not be able to accept his situation. Korbkiart said prison officials would try to help Boonsong resign to his fate.

Boonsong has been sentenced to a 42-year jail term for faking government-to-government rice export deals, resulting in Bt16-billion financial damage to the state during the previous government’s implementation of its rice-pledging scheme. He is also subject to making reparations worth around Bt1.7 billion.

NACC President Pol. Gen. Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit said the NACC had thoroughly examined the evidence in every case as well as the text in the court’s verdicts.

He also pointed out that the NACC had to weigh up its chances of winning each appeal and it had come to the conclusion that there was only a slim prospect of successful appeals against the other three defendants, including former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders earlier this month acquitted Somchai, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew.

The four defendants were found not guilty in relation to the police crackdown on yellow-shirt protesters in October 2008 that left two people dead and more than 400 injured.

The NACC disagrees only with the acquittal of Suchart. It claims that he, as an operational commander on that day, was familiar with the security procedures to be followed and had the authority, which he did not use, to issue orders to cease the crackdown and the use of tear gas against the protesters.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Monday filed a petition urging the NACC to expedite its decision on whether to appeal against the case, as the 30-day deadline was drawing to a close and it was concerned the NACC might leave it too late.

Pol Gen Watcharapol said the NACC would file its appeal to the court by Friday.

He also denied an accusation that the NACC’s decision not to appeal against the other three was to help Pol Gen Patcharawat, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan’s brother.

An arrest warrant was issued for Yingluck on Friday after she failed to show up at the Supreme Court to hear the final verdict in a case stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

There has been speculation that members of the armed forces gave Yingluck help to flee given that the former PM had always been followed and observed by military officers.

Some people have said that it seems unlikely that the military would have let their guard down so near to her verdict day.

Surapong said that if any officers had been found to be involved in such a scheme, they would be prosecuted.

The tweet came after a few days after his sister; Yingluck Shinawatra, also an ex-PM, failed to show up to hear the ruling on a charge of negligence concerning her government’s rice-pledging scheme, that cost the country billions of Baht.

Apparently referring to his sister’s case, Thaksin tweeted; “Montesquieu once said ‘There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of the justice’.”

As of today, there are no indications as to whereabouts of Yingluck, with some speculating that she escaped to Dubai, where Thaksin lives while some others claim she is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.

The last tweet of Thaksin was on August 17, 2015.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said that the Foreign Ministry has sought cooperation through diplomatic channels with the six countries and checked immigration points along Thai borders to find Yingluck, who fled from the Kingdom shortly before the verdict was announced on her rice-pledging scheme case last week.

Prayut said Thailand did not contact the United Kingdom – where Yingluck is speculated to have sought political asylum – as he doubted she would qualify for that status.

Yingluck’s current whereabouts remains a mystery since she failed to show up at the Supreme Court last Friday to hear a final ruling on her charge of allegedly neglecting irregularities in the rice-pledging scheme that caused thousands-of-billions-baht damage to the national budget.

Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisat said he believed Yingluck’s escape was well planned with advance preparations made with the help of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a coup in 2006 and now lives in exile in Dubai.

“Unlike ordinary people, Yingluck had the potential to escape by herself. Her brother could prepare facilities for her, such as a private jet,” he said, adding that she discarded her mobile phone and stopped using her usual vehicle for travelling shortly before her disappearance.

The army chief said he believed Yingluck had left the country, even though there was no clear evidence that she had done so.

He admitted her escape exposed a flaw in the operations of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the Army, which oversees security matters and the border.

Useful discussions

Police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said that the officers would talk to at least 14 people who reportedly met Yingluck at a hotel in Bangkok before she fled the country.

Police earlier questioned her bodyguards, including Pol Colonel Watanyu Wittayaphalothai, who has provided security to the Shinawatra family’s political office holders since the premiership of Yingluck’s brother Thaksin.

Deputy police chief Pol General Srivara Rangsipramanakul said he met Watanyu on Monday. He said it was a useful discussion but he could not disclose any details.

Immigration police have checked all possible departure points, including airports, but had found no clues to how she managed to slip out of the country.

Thai police have contacted Interpol, which is represented in more than 190 countries, but so far have not yet received any replies.

Prayut and Chalermchai reiterated that junta officials, who watched Yingluck’s movements, did not take part or facilitate her escape.

“I do not see any benefit [for the NCPO]. We are now blamed. PM Prayut [Chan-o-cha] calls me every day to expedite efforts to locate her,” the Army chief said.

Prayut said: “You people kept grumbling that we violated human rights by keeping a close watch on her, so now don’t complain. I regret we are being blamed for letting her go, which is not true.”

All officers found to have helped Yingluck escape will be prosecuted, he added. “There must be a legal way to prosecute her eventually,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said he was not involved in Yingluck’s escape, adding that he never knew her in person.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry and security offices dodged questions on who would be responsible to decide on the revocation on Yingluck’s Thai passport.

While Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said that the ministry needs to be approached by the police to proceed with the revocation, police chief Chakthip said that the ministry should take care of the matter itself. “These kinds of things don’t need an order to proceed. If it is their duty, it can be proceeded with at once,” Chakthip said.