Thailand’s former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra may have fled the country after failing to appear in court to hear the verdict in her long-running trial, according to the junta that ousted her in a coup in 2014 and reports in local media. Thousands of Yingluck’s supporters had massed outside the country’s supreme court on Friday morning to witness the outcome of the trial over allegations of failing to prevent alleged corruption. However, the 50-year-old did not turn up. Her lawyer told the judge that his client was suffering from an issue with fluid in her ear and was unable to attend. The judge ruled the court would issue an arrest warrant and seize her bail bond. “We don’t think that the defendant is ill. We think that the defendant is hiding or has fled … We have pushed back the verdict date to 27 September,” a statement from a supreme court judge said. “She asked for sick leave not to show up today.”(theguardian)…[+]