Boon for Thailand's Shinawatras as court clears ex-PM Yingluck of negligence

Ousted former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court in Bangkok, Thailand, July 21, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Supreme Court cleared self-exiled former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of negligence on Monday, in a boost for an influential family whose party is back in power after a decade in the political wilderness.

Yingluck, who has lived abroad since 2017 to avoid jail over a subsidy scheme that caused billions of dollars in state losses, was cleared of favouring certain companies that received government contracts, in a unanimous decision by the top court.