Jailed Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra to Be Freed Soon, Justice Minister Confirms

Thailand’s jailed Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will soon be out of prison as Thailand’s Justice Minister confirmed that his parole petition was approved by a Thai court.

Shinawatra will be out of prison just six months after he returned to the country after 15 years of self-imposed exile. Shinawatra, who was the former chief of the English premier league soccer club Manchester City, became the Prime Minister of Thailand in 2001.

He was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and went to New York. The former Thai premier made a comeback on August 22 and was sentenced to eight years in prison for conflict of interest abuse of power and corruption during his time in power.

On Tuesday, Thailand’s Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong confirmed that Shinawatra was one of the 930 inmates who have been granted parole this month, CNN reported. “He is in the group where they are in a critical condition or aged over 70. He will be released after six months automatically,” Sodsong told reporters. Just one week after he was convicted in August last year, Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn reduced the former premier’s prison sentence from eight to one year after he submitted a request for a royal pardon.