City’s Thaksin Faces Extradition Calls
Former owner and honourary chairman of Manchester City, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been sentenced to two years in prison in his home country of Thailand leading to calls for his extradition from the UK.
Formerly the Thai Prime Minister, Shinawatra was found guilty of violating conflict of interest rules by the Thai Supreme Court and charged with helping his wife buy land from a state agency at a knock-down price.
Shinawatra was not present for the plea, however, as the couple sought amnesty in the UK in August, where they claimed they would get a more fair trial.
Fulfilling his role as Man City’s honorary chairman, Shinawatra is still in the UK and therefore not governed by Thai law. His two-year sentence will then not be carried out unless the British government hands him over to Thai authorities.
The ruling is the first of many delayed cases against Shinawatra that were launched on the heels of the 2006 military coup.
The former leader was accused of corruption and abuse of power and a special investigative unit was formed to look into Shinawatra the business dealings of the and his close associates.
Shinawatra sold his majority stakeholding in Manchester City earlier this year to Arabian consortium ADUG but was retained as the club’s honourary chairman as part of the deal.
