Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, after finding her guilty of ethical misconduct over a controversial phone call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen.

The ruling on Friday makes Paetongtarn the fifth prime minister since 2008 to be stripped of office by Thai judges.

The nine-judge panel ruled that the 39-year-old politician had failed to uphold the ethical standards or demonstrate the integrity required of a prime minister during her call with Hun Sen in June to discuss deadly border clashes between the two countries armies.

The panel said Paetongtarn had put her personal interests over the nation’s interests.

In the leaked conversation, Paetongtarn was heard pandering to Hun Sen and calling him “uncle”, while criticising a senior Thai army commander and describing him as an “opponent”.

Friday’s verdict is the second of three high-stakes court cases against Paetongtarn and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The 76-year-old billionaire was cleared of a charge of insulting the country’s powerful monarchy last week, but faces another court case over his stay in a hospital wing instead of prison in 2023 as he served a commuted sentence over corruption charges.

Source : Al Jazeera