Former Thai PM Yingluck to stand trial for negligence

BANGKOK, March 19 (UPI) -- Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will stand trial for negligence over a scheme to subsidize rice production in rural Thailand and could face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

The BBC reported Thailand's Supreme Court ruled Shinawatra presided over a rice subsidy scheme that allowed farmers in her support base to receive double the market rate for their crops. The handouts cost the Thai government billions of dollars.

In her defense, Shinawatra said the policy was to support the rural poor.

"I only wished to see our country prosper...in particular the rice farmers (who) have long suffered from unfair treatment," she said in a statement posted on the website of the Pheu Thai Party.

Shinawatra said the policy was supported by a majority of Thais and it was a corrective measure to give back to farmers who do not have the bargaining power to negotiate a better price with powerful buyers.

Shinawatra was expelled from office by a military coup in May 2014 that took place after months of protests.

The BBC reported the former prime minister's rice subsidy scheme played a role in rising dissatisfaction that led to street protests.

Shinawatra's family is no stranger to political twists. In 2006, Shinawatra's brother Thaksin was ousted from his role as prime minister.

Both Shinawatra and her brother have a solid support base in the populist areas of rural Thailand but they have faced accusations of corruption, mainly from the country's elite.