Hej
I dagens The Wall Street Journal spekulerar man om att tiden är på väg att rinna ut för Sondhi Limthongkul som nu ska försöka undvika att ett 20 årigt fängelsestraff verkställs, i artikeln tror man att han den här gången kommer att bli tvungen att sitta av något av straffet, frågan är bara hur mycket?
[size=5]Thailand’s Sondhi Running Out of Time After Latest Conviction[/size]
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By James Hookway
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images People’s Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul in September 2010.The business tycoon who led a series of protests against former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra and who later survived an assassination attempt might find it difficult to escape his latest challenge: a 20-year prison sentence for fraud.
Sondhi Limthongkul pleaded guilty to falsifying loan documents in the 1990s to secure a 1 billion baht, or roughly $30 million, loan from state-owned Krung Thai Bank to shore up his Manager Media Group. He was sentenced to five years on 17 counts, but the 85-year term was cut in half because he pleaded guilty and then capped at 20 years—the maximum term allowable on the charge.
Mr. Sondhi, 64 years old, is still out and about. He filed an appeal against the sentence and posted bail of 10 million baht, or $330,000. But the maverick tycoon’s influence is dwindling fast in Thailand and analysts suggest that this time, after evading a host of other charges relating to his political campaigns, Mr. Sondhi is likely to serve at least some time behind bars.
