“The panel [of judges] has decided that this case falls within our authority … We accept this case,” said judge Veeraphol Tangsuwan at Bangkok’s Supreme Court, adding that the first hearing will be held on May 19.

Prosecutor Surasak Srirattantrakul said in a press conference that a court writ and case files will be brought to the defendant within seven days and, on the day of the first hearing, Yingluck must appear before court to hear the charge and to testify.

Thailand’s attorney general filed criminal charges against Yingluck in February, accusing her of “dereliction of duty” in relation to the economically disastrous rice scheme, which paid farmers in the rural Shinawatra heartland twice the market rate for their crops.

The programme cost billions of US dollars and inspired the protests that eventually felled Yingluck’s elected government and led to May’s military coup. Critics also said the programme was riddled with corruption.

In response to the court move, Yingluck protested her innocence via her Facebook page, saying that as prime minister, she had done her job honestly in accordance with law and regulation for the benefit of people, especially for agriculturists.

“I’m confident in my innocence … I did nothing wrong and hope to reach the real justice in the Supreme Court,” she said in a statement released on the social media site.

The court’s decision comes less than two months after the retroactive impeachment of the former premier by an assembly appointed by the ruling generals – a move that carries an automatic five-year ban from politics.

The country is currently under martial law and ruled by a junta led by general and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Yingluck did not attend the Bangkok court today but will be legally obliged to attend the first hearing next month.

Asked if Yingluck could travel abroad from now on, prosecutor Surasak said any decision on that would rest with the court.

The army takeover last year was the latest twist in Thailand’s turbulent political landscape, at the heart of which sits Thaksin, who was toppled by a previous coup in 2006 and now lives in self-exile to avoid jail on a corruption charge.

Yet his influence persists in Thai politics, with Shinawatra-allied parties drawing the loyalty of the rural north as well as urban working-class voters for their populist policies.

But Thaksin is loathed by much of the country’s royalist elite, which is backed by parts of the military and judiciary, and experts say the impeachment and charges against Yingluck are the latest attempt to extinguish the political prowess of the Shinawatras.

The junta has said it will hold fresh elections in early next year once reforms to tackle corruption and curb the power of political parties are codified in a new constitution.

But the draft charter has already raised deep concerns in the kingdom, and critics doubt whether it will bridge Thailand’s political divisions.

With additional reporting from Kyodo