- Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of corruption, has been released early from prison on parole.
- Thai media published pictures on Sunday of the politician, who returned from exile six months ago, being picked up in a car from the police hospital.
- He was allowed to return to his private estate for the first time in more than a decade.
According to the judiciary, 74-year-old Shinawatra met the parole criteria because he is over 70 years old, suffers from a serious illness and has served six months of his one-year sentence. According to reports, the Southeast Asian country’s best-known politician is one of 930 prisoners who have been granted parole.
Legend:
Thaksin Shinawatra and his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra leave the police hospital in Bangkok in a van.
EPA/STRINGER
The former head of government returned to his homeland on August 22, 2023 after 15 years in exile – and was immediately convicted by the Supreme Court. He was immediately taken to prison, but shortly afterwards was taken to the police hospital because of health problems. King Maha Vajiralongkorn ultimately reduced Thaksin’s prison sentence from eight years to just one year. In Thailand, convicts older than 70 can apply for parole or a royal pardon.
Overthrown in military coup
Thaksin made his fortune in the telecommunications industry and was elected prime minister in 2001. He was overthrown in a military coup in 2006 and later accused of corruption and abuse of power as well as contempt for the monarchy. He fled the country in 2008 and has lived mainly in Dubai since then to avoid prison.
On the very day he returned to Thailand, the candidate of the Pheu Thai party he founded, real estate entrepreneur Srettha Thavisin, was elected as the new prime minister. Srettha is the successor to Prayuth Chan-ocha, who overthrew the previous Pheu Thai government of Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra in a military coup in 2014.