Thaksin Shinawat Jailed by Thailand Supreme Court

COLOMBO (News 1st); Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawat must serve one year in jail, the country’s supreme court has ruled, in a major blow to one of the country’s most prominent and polarising politicians whose daughter ousted as prime minister last month. 

The court issued its ruling on Tuesday in a review of whether Thaksin’s stay in the private room of a police hospital from 2023 to early 2024 counted as time served towards an earlier prison sentence.

Thaksin, 76, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in 2023 for fraud and abuse of power following his surprise return to Thailand after 15 years in exile.

His sentence was commuted to one year by the king, and he was later released early due to his age.

In its judgment, the supreme court found that the arrangement allowing Thaksin to stay at hospital was unlawful. “The defendant knows his sickness was not an urgent matter, and staying in hospital cannot count as a prison term,” said the ruling read out by a judge.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions ruled that Thakshin's six month stay in a police hospital in 2023, when he began serving a reduced sentenced for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, does not count toward his term. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. 

Sources:Al Jazeera | Bloomberg | The Guardian