Thailand's court sets new date for Yingluck verdict, to seek arrest warrant

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Supreme Court on Friday said it would seek permission for an arrest warrant for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she failed to show up to hear the court's verdict in a negligence case against her. The court set a new date of Sept. 27 for the verdict. The court said Yingluck, who had pleaded not guilty in the case focused on a rice subsidy scheme for farmers, had told the court she could not attend due as she was suffering from an ear problem. "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 September 27," a statement from a Supreme Court judge said. "She asked for sick leave not to show up today." A spokeswoman for Yingluck, who was ousted by a military coup in 2014, declined to comment. (Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Panarat Thepgumpnat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)