DHAKA: A Thai court accepted a new case on Wednesday against prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, compounding her many legal problems as she resists pressure to step down over five months of sometimes violent street protest.

Twenty-four people have already died in the crisis, including an anti-government protester on Tuesday after weeks of calm in Bangkok.

Yingluck’s supporters plan mass rallies of their own this week to counter attempts to remove her from office by activists also determined to stamp out the influence of her brother, ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Constitutional Court accepted a case brought by a group of 27 senators who petitioned it to rule that her removal of National Security Chief Thawil Pliensree in 2011 violated the constitution.

The case said the prime minister abused her position by moving the security chief to an inactive post, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1525 HRS, APR 02, 2014