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Thaksin flees to UK amid graft case

AP, Bangkok
Deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family have fled to the United Kingdom, the former leader said yesterday after he and his wife skipped a hearing on corruption charges in a Thai court.
A handwritten statement from Thaksin issued Monday said he fled because he could not expect justice in Thai courts. It came amid newspaper reports that he would seek asylum in Britain.
*My wife and I have travelled to reside in England," Thaksin said in the statement. "If I still have luck, I would come back and die on Thai soil like every other Thai person."
Thaksin's statement, which did not mention asking for asylum, was read Monday afternoon on state-run television.
Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup, faces a slew of court cases as well as investigations probing alleged corruption and abuse of power during his five years in office. In his statement, he again said he was innocent of all accusations against him.
"What happened to my family and me is like fruit from a poisonous tree the fruit will also be poisoned," the statement said. "There is a continuation of dictatorship in managing Thai politics ... which is followed by interference in the justice system."Thaksin and his wife Pojaman failed to appear Monday morning before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in a case involving an allegedly FROM PAGE 1
unlawful purchase of real estate.
The couple left Thailand last week after the court gave them permission to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing but ordered tnem to report Monday. News reports in Bangkok said Thaksin and Pojaman flew from China to England, where the former leader owns several properties and the Manchester City football club
Thaksin lived in exile in Britain after his downfall. He returned to Thailand earlier this year to face corruption charges against him after his political allies won new elections and formed a coalition government.
"I thought I would be able to prove my innocence and receive justice, which is why I returned to Thailand on February 28. But the situation has deteriorated," Thaksin said.
He also said there had been threats against his life.
“I have also constantly received news that my life is not safe. Wherever I travel. I have to use bulletproof cars. This is the result I got from volunteering to serve the country, the king and the people," he said.
In Monday's court case, the couple had been charged with abuse of authority and corruption in Poiaman's 2003 purchase of a valuable plot of land in Bangkok from a state agency. The Supreme Court earlier said it would deliver a verdict Sept. 16.
Thaksin is embroiled in three other court cases as wvll as a slew of investigations that may lead to trials. He has maintained his innocence against all allegations.
Thaksin was widely regarded as an authoritarian figure who eroded Thailand's still-fragile democratic institutions. Mass street protests led to his downfall.
But he was popular with the country’s rural masses and urban poor with his populist policies.