Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be tried as a criminal by the Supreme Court. She is charged with mishandling a multi-billion dollar rice subsidy scheme and could be jailed for 10 years if found guilty. The first court hearing is on May 19.

She was banned from politics for five years in January after a military-backed legislature found her guilty of corruption related to the rice subsidy.

Yingluck, who did not appear in court on Thursday, has denied the charges. She has also defended the rice policy which bought rice from farmers at above-market prices, and has said the charges against her are politically motivated.

Her supporters see the case as the latest step by the royalist, military establishment to eradicate the influence of her powerful political family, in particular that of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thailand has been divided by the hostility between the Shinawatras and the establishment for nearly a decade.

The military ousted Yingluck’s government saying it had to step in to end violent anti-government protests. The protests were mounted by establishment supporters bent on overthrowing what they said was an administration riddled with corruption.

The court’s decision comes as dissatisfaction with the ruling junta in Thailand appears to be growing.