Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's former PM, released from prison on parole

thaksin shinawatra, thailand's former pm, released from prison on parole

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra released from detention (AP)

Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand, was released from detention on Sunday evening after being granted special parole citing his old age and illness by the country’s coalition government, which his family backs.

Thaksin Shinawatra walked out of detention, nearly six months before the end of his jail term, from a police hospital in Bangkok. The 76-year-old former Thai PM was lodged in the police hospital after being sentenced on his return from a 15-year self-exile in August last year.

Upon release, Shinawatra 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.

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 Aug. 22 after complaining of chest pain and high blood pressure.

Shinawatra, who was the Thai prime minister two times, was sentenced to eight years of jail on charges of corruption after he returned 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.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had said earlier this week that the suspension of Thaksin’s sentence was by the law. Thavisin leads coalition government which is effectively helmed by Shinawatra’s family.

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.

Thaksin Shinawatra has been a controversial yet popular political figure in Thailand for several decades, with his family domination national elections for several decades before they were unseated from power in 2014, when his sister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government was toppled.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)

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