Thaksin's wife arrested and then released on return to Thailand

Pojaman Shinawatra, 51, wife of Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra smiles as she arrives at the Court in Bangkok yesterday. Pojaman Shinawatra returned to Bangkok and was immediately taken to court to hear corruption charges against her, officials said. Photo: AFP

The wife of Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned yesterday to defend herself in court against charges of corruption, as her husband insisted on their innocence.
Pojaman Shinawatra, a shrewd political player in her own right, arrived in Thailand with her husband's political allies facing legal hurdles to forming a new government despite their victory in last month's general elections.
She was immediately escorted by police to the Supreme Court and then to the special investigations unit of the justice ministry to hear the corruption and fraud charges.
A short while later she was released after posting a total of six million baht (178,000 dollars) in bail. Pojaman smiled at the throngs of reporters who followed her every move but said nothing.
Dressed in a black suit and dark sunglasses, Pojaman was accompanied by her three children and waved to the handful of supporters who had gathered on the sidewalk to greet her.
The 51-year-old has spent more than six months overseas with her husband while investigators here piled charges against them.
"She came here today to prove her innocence," her lawyer Noppadon Pattama told reporters after the court hearing.
She and Thaksin are both charged with corruption in the purchase of a plot of prime Bangkok real estate. Investigators say Pojaman used her husband's political influence to buy the land from a government agency at one-third of its estimated value.
They are also accused of making fraudulent filings to securities regulators in 2003 when they listed a property firm on the local exchange.
Pojaman, her step-brother Banpot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchanapa Honghern also face additional criminal charges of tax evasion.