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Thai Court Accepts Petition Against Embattled PM


FILE - An anti-government protester carries a placard with a picture of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as protesters march through central Bangkok, March 29, 2014.
FILE - An anti-government protester carries a placard with a picture of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as protesters march through central Bangkok, March 29, 2014.
Thailand's Constitutional Court has agreed to consider a legal challenge against the country's embattled prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

The court on Wednesday accepted the case, which was brought by a group of anti-government lawmakers. The petition alleges Yingluck violated the constitution by firing a national security council member, allegedly for political reasons, in 2011.

The prime minister is also the focus of an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission over her role in a rice subsidy program that has cost the government billions in losses.

If found guilty in either case, Yingluck faces possible removal from office. Her government also has been hit by a wave of anti-government protests since November.

At least 24 people have been killed in the protests, including one person at an opposition protest Tuesday in the capital, Bangkok. It is Thailand's worst political violence since 2010.

The protesters are calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down. They say her government is hopelessly corrupt and controlled by her brother, ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
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