Thai court docket orders ex-PM Thaksin to serve one 12 months in jail

Thailand’s high court docket has dominated that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should serve one 12 months in jail, in yet one more blow to the influential political dynasty.

It dominated that he had unlawfully served a part of a earlier jail sentence in a hospital, and subsequently should serve it in jail.

The high-profile case is linked to a earlier corruption conviction.

Thaksin and his household have dominated Thai politics since he was first elected PM in 2001. His daughter Paetongtarn beforehand served as chief however was faraway from workplace final month after the constitutional court docket dominated she had violated moral requirements, in a case linked to a leaked telephone name with Cambodia’s Hun Sen.

Paetongtarn, who accompanied her 76-year-old father to court docket on Tuesday, advised reporters after the ruling that she was “nervous” for her father however that he and their household have been in “good spirits”.

She additionally vowed to take the household’s Pheu Thai social gathering ahead of their work as an opposition social gathering.

Thaksin’s newest case stems from an earlier conviction linked to his premiership.

The previous PM was ousted in a navy coup in 2006 and spent years dwelling in self-imposed exile, principally in Dubai.

When he returned to Thailand in 2023, he was promptly tried and located responsible of corruption and abuse of energy throughout his time in workplace. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.

Following Thaksin’s plea for a royal pardon, the Thai king commuted his sentence to at least one 12 months.

However he ended up spending solely lower than a day in a jail cell as he was swiftly moved to a luxurious wing of the Police Common Hospital after complaining of coronary heart issues.

He stayed there for six months, then obtained parole and moved to his house in Bangkok.

The most recent case centred on whether or not Thaksin’s switch to hospital was lawful and whether or not he was genuinely sick.

The “14th ground case”, as it’s recognized in Thailand due to the hospital ground he stayed at, has gripped many Thais who have been watching to see if the PM would find yourself serving time in jail.