Bangkok, May 4 (Inditop) Thailand has asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nicaragua to extradite fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on “a reciprocal and voluntary basis”, foreign ministry officials said Monday.
Ministry Permanent Secretary Veerasak Futrakul said that although Thailand has no extradition treaty with the UAE or Nicaragua, the kingdom would seek their cooperation, state-run Thai News Agency reported.
Requests for Thaksin’s “temporary arrest” were sent to the countries late last month, the agency said.
Thaksin was ousted by a coup in September, 2006, and last year was found guilty of abuse of power in a land purchase by his wife, for which he has been sentenced to two years in jail.
Most recently, authorities issued Thaksin an arrest warrant for inciting last month’s unrest that led to the cancellation of a regional summit to be hosted by Thailand April 11. The event was called off after pro-Thksin protestors stormed the meeting venue.
Thaksin was believed to be in Dubai at the time, phoning in encouragement to his supporters to stage a “people’s revolution” in the kingdom.
The former billionaire telecommunications tycoon currently holds several passports, including a diplomatic passport from Nicaragua.
His Thai passport was revoked last month. Thaksin was prime minister between 2001-06.
