BANGKOK — A Thai court on Wednesday sentenced former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was ousted in a 2014 military coup, in absentia to five years in prison for alleged negligence in a money-losing rice subsidy program.

Yingluck, who has said the charges are politically motivated, is believed to have fled the country last month before the original date of the verdict.

Her lawyers said on Wednesday that they have no idea where she is.

Yingluck’s conviction had been widely expected, as the military remains firmly in charge and the courts have a record of antipathy toward her politically influential family.

Thailand’s military government has been doggedly pursuing Yingluck in court.

associated press