Thailand's ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was handed a five-year prison sentence in absentia on Wednesday (September 26) after the country's to court found her guilty of negligence in the management of a rice subsidy scheme.

“The court found that the defendant is guilty as charged... the court has sentenced her to five years in prison and the court also unanimously agreed that the sentence will not be suspended," the judge said

Yingluck was due to hear the verdict on August 25, but failed to show up, surprising hundreds of supporters who had gathered at the court.

Aides said she had fled Thailand, fearing a harsh sentence. She last month had escaped to Dubai, where her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, owns a home.

Yingluck, who swept to power in a 2011 general election, introduced a rice subsidy scheme that proved wildly popular with farmers but which the military government says caused billions of dollars in losses.

Her government was ousted by the military in 2014.

BDST: 1615 HRS, SEP 27, 2017
EHJ