Thai court orders ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail

Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail because his detention in a VIP wing of a hospital in lieu of prison was unlawful, in another major blow for a powerful family that has dominated politics for two decades.

The judges said Thaksin did not have severe illness and his hospitalisation could not be counted as time served, adding the responsibility did not solely lie with the doctors and that the polarising billionaire intentionally prolonged his hospital stay.

Thaksin was seen at the court removing his jacket and getting into a corrections department van.

In a statement on Facebook, the tycoon said he accepted the verdict and would stay strong.

“Today, I may no longer have freedom, but have freedom of thought to create benefit for the country and people,” Thaksin said.

The 76-year-old power-broker is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégé Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court on August 29 - the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.

Following Paetongtarn’s sacking last month, days of chaos ensued before her government fell on Friday, outmanoeuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected premier by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party.

On return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, Thaksin spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to hospital complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and public outrage.

His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.

A political ally of Thaksin who was in the courtroom said he took the decision well.

“He still has the fighting spirit, he told me he came back (from overseas) and was ready to face any situation, whether it’s good or bad,” Kokaew Pikulthong, a lawmaker for the Pheu Thai party, told reporters.

Source: Reuters

-Agencies