One day after being charged with terrorism, Thailand's fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that he did not finance or organize the red-shirt movement that had staged a two-month sit-in here. 'I am in contact with them, and they ask for advice sometimes,' he said, describing his relationship with the protest leaders. Some of those leaders asserted that he was more directly involved. The telephone interview was one of several organized by lawyers for Thaksin, who was speaking from an undisclosed location outside Thailand as they filed an appeal against the terrorism charge, which carries a maximum sentence of death. Speaking in court during the appeal hearing on Wednesday, one of the opposition leaders, Jatuporn Prompan said the 'core leaders of the red shirts were responsible for every move at the rally without any influence from Thaksin.' Terrorism charges have also been filed against some of those core leaders. In the interview, Thaksin suggested that he was afraid of being assassinated if he returned to Thailand, where politics have become increasingly volatile since his ouster in a coup in 2006. Thaksin was in New York at the time of the coup, and for most of the time since then he has remained abroad, evading a jail term on a conviction for corruption. The Thai government has expressed frustration that its requests for extradition have been denied, and the authorities in Bangkok are hoping the terrorism charge will bolster their effort to force his return. In denying that he had helped finance the protests, Thaksin said the red-shirt movement was self-sustaining through donations from both poor and wealthy supporters. The government has frozen the bank accounts of dozens of people it says have been involved. The movement is the product of years of political organizing and held major rallies long before the recent, prolonged occupation of Bangkok's central shopping district. A telecommunications billionaire, Thaksin was one of Thailand's richest men. In February, a court found him guilty of concealing his wealth and confiscated $1.4 billion in frozen assets, while allowing him to keep nearly $1 billion. Thaksin is believed to have considerable wealth outside Thailand as well. 