Belgrade - The Serbian government has
granted citizenship to Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra who fled her homeland in 2017 to avoid negligence
charges.
Shinawatra, 52, went to Dubai and joined her brother
Thaksin, another former Thai prime minister who also fled in
2008 to avoid a prison sentence for corruption.
The Serbian government decided to grant Yingluck citizenship
on June 27, citing a legal provision that "a foreign citizen can
also be granted Serbian citizenship if that is in line with the
country's interests."
The Official Gazette notice about the decision was published
in local media on Thursday and gave no further explanation.
Serbian officials, Thai diplomats in Belgrade and the
Shinwatra family were not immediately available for comment.
Yingluck, whose family dominated Thai politics for more than
15 years, had pleaded innocent to charges related to rice-buying
policies she implemented after taking over as Thailand's first
female premier in 2011.
She had faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
In 2010, Thaksin was granted honorary citizenship of
Montenegro, Serbia's former partner in a now-defunct state
union.