Warrants issued for Thaksin, Pojaman

The warrant for Thaksin is valid for 15 years but the one for his wife Pojaman can only be enforced for 10 years.

The Supreme Court issued the warrants on Monday after Thaksin and Pojaman jumped bail and failed to report for a hearing of the Ratchadaphisek land case.

With the family having fled to London, the next step for police is to coordinate with the Office of the Attorney General to initiate an extra-dition request, a police spokesman said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Thaksin, Wichit Plangsrikul, claimed the police move to distribute arrest warrants for the couple across the country could be deemed an abuse. "The police action was not suit-able and might have broken the law because they deliberately defamed them. The police did not need to do that because Thaksin had said he and his family would live in the United Kingdom."

Wichit said Thaksin was not a felon yet because he had not been convicted by any court, so he did not believe the Attorney General could take any move to extradite Thaksin back.