Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was freed from detention on Sunday after the coalition government headed by a party backed by his family granted him a special parole citing his old age and illness.
Thaksin, 74, was released six months before the end of his jail term from a police hospital in Bangkok, where he was lodged after being sentenced on his return from a 15-year self exile in August last year. He was received by his daughter and ruling Pheu Thai Party chief Paetongtarn Shinawatra and taken to his family home in a suburb of the Thai capital, Thai PBS and other local media outlets reported.
“He has left the police hospital,” Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chartmontri told Reuters.
The billionaire politician was included in a list of more than 900 prisoners eligible for suspended jail terms as he was older than 70 and suffered from chronic illnesses, according to the justice ministry. Thaksin was moved to the police hospital within hours of being lodged in a Bangkok prison on August 22 after complaining of chest pain and high blood pressure.
The two-time prime minister was sentenced to eight years in jail on corruption charges on his return from exile. He was granted a partial royal pardon in September by King Maha Vajiralongkorn that saw his sentence being commuted to just one year.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said earlier this week that the suspension of the popular politician’s sentence was in line with the law. He heads a coalition led by Pheu Thai – effectively helmed by Thaksin.
According to Thai laws, prisoners who have served at least two-thirds of their sentences may be released early under probation. Additionally, prisoners who are 70 years or older and suffer from severe illnesses may also be eligible for release after serving at least six months, or a third of their sentences.
A controversial but enduring figure in Thai politics, Thaksin is the head of the Shinawatra clan that has dominated national elections only to be routinely unseated from power. His homecoming was seen as part of a deal with the military establishment that ousted him in 2006 and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in 2014.
Hours after Thaksin’s return to Thailand, Srettha was elected as the nation’s new prime minister after months of political deadlock. Thaksin’s youngest daughter Paetongtarn took the helm of Pheu Thai last year, further strengthening the clan’s grip on power.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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