Thailand's Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Prasong Soonsiri said here on Wednesday that he believed the United Kingdom (UK) government will extradite Thai ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand if the Thai government requested.
Prasong, also former foreign minister, was quoted by local media as saying that he believed the extradition will be according to the international extradition law, adding that he is confident that Thaksin will not be able to seek political asylum there because of corruption charges facing him back in Thailand.
Thaksin was accused of using his authority as the prime minister to influence the purchase of a land in Bangkok worth 772 million baht (33 baht to one U.S. dollar) by his wife Potjaman from the Financial Institutions Development Fund in 2003.
On Tuesday, Thai Supreme Court's Criminal Tribunal for Political Office Holder approved the request of public prosecutors to issue arrest warrants against the couple after they failed to appear in the court be officially arraigned.
Meanwhile, Prasong also called on the Foreign Ministry to have Thaksin's passport officially withdrawn, saying Thaksin is now alleged of malfeasance.
Thai Foreign Ministry had canceled diplomatic passport of Thaksin after he was ousted from the premiership in September last year. Thaksin, living in London, is now holding ordinary passport.
Despite the optimism, Prasong called on Thaksin to return to fight charges before facing extradition.
"It's better that Mr. Thaksin return to fight charges," Prasong was quoted by the Bangkok Post's webnews as saying.
Source: Xinhua
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