The joint panel of public prosecutors and graft-busters has agreed two more people still need to be questioned about the purported government-to-government (G2G) rice sales before a decision can be made on the indictment of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme.
Agreement was reached on Thursday at the fourth joint meeting between members of the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to discuss the case against Ms Yingluck.
After a two-hour meeting, the panel agreed there was conflicting testimony from witnesses in the NACC case file about whether the G2G rice deals really happened.
Therefore, two witnesses would have to be questioned - the accuser, and a researcher with Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) - to further clarify the matter.
The meeting also agreed to seek more information regarding the G2G contracts from the Auditor General's Office, a Finance Ministry subcommittee overseeing the rice subsidy scheme's accounting procedure, the TDRI's rice research paper, and statements made during the censure debate in parliament.
NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljiak
NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljiak said the two sides agreed on all points and Thursday’s meeting went well.
The panel realised that the case was of high public interest and that the gathering of the additional evidence should not take too long, he said.
He said the G2G rice deals required further witness questioning and additional documents. It was a relatively small issue but it needed to be sorted out to ensure the completion of the case report and so that it would be accepted by court.
He expected the process to be completed in January, and after that the OAG will decide whether it will prosecute Ms Yingluck.
If the prosecuters do not pursue the indictment, Mr Sansern said, the NACC will take the case to court itself.
The NACC accused Ms Yingluck in her former capacity as the ex-officio chair of the National Rice Policy Committee of dereliction of duty and abuse of authority for failing to halt or review her government's loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme, and the alleged corruption in it.
It also proposed impeachment and her retroactive removal from the prime minister's position.
The Finance Ministry has estimated the state had lost 682 billion baht in implementing rice-subsidy schemes over the past 10 years, of which 518 billion baht was occurred under the Yingluck government through its crop pledging scheme while it was in office from 2011 to 2013.