BANGKOK, Feb 17 – Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to be released on Feb 18, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Saturday, reported Xinhua.
Thaksin ended his exile of over 15 years and returned to Thailand in August 2023, and was soon detained and sentenced to an eight-year prison sentence on several charges.
However, he was transferred from a Bangkok prison to a hospital due to health concerns and has remained in hospital since.
Meanwhile, Sputnik reported that Thaksin who is serving a one-year prison term on corruption charges, will be released on parole.
“Ex-pime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be released on parole on Feb 18. His release takes place in full accordance with the law and legal procedure in force under the Justice Ministry’s system,” Srettha told a briefing, broadcast by the Thairath TV channel.
The decision on Thaksin’s parole was made in connection with the ex-prime minister’s old age, 74, and the presence of severe chronic diseases, as well as the fact that Feb 18 will mark exactly half of the one-year sentence, which is more than a third of his imprisonment required by the law on parole.
Thaksin is one of the most popular political leaders in Thai history. He was in exile after the military coup in September 2006 and a series of criminal cases against him on corruption charges. On Aug 22, 2023, Thaksin returned to Thailand, knowing that he would have to serve an eight-year prison sentence issued in absentia. He felt ill and was hospitalised by the police the same day he arrived in Thailand. On Sept 1, King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, granted him partial clemency, reducing the sentence from eight years to one year.
