Thailand's jailed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has requested a royal pardon, a government minister said Thursday.Caretaker justice minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Thaksin had applied for a pardon from the eight-year jail term he is serving for convictions for graft and abuse of power.
Thailand's former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a request for a royal pardon, outgoing Justice Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Thursday, his latest move in a long-running power struggle with the country's establishment. Thaksin, Thailand's most famous politician, made a dramatic homecoming last week after 15 years abroad where he lived in self-exile to avoid prison. Thaksin arrived on a private jet and greeted supporters before being moved to a prison to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest from his time in power.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who recently returned from exile and began serving an eight-year prison term, has requested a royal pardon, a senior member of the outgoing Cabinet said Thursday. Thaksin was moved from prison to a state hospital soon after his return last week for reported ill health. Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is acting justice minister as well as a deputy prime minister, said he has received a letter from Thaksin requesting a pardon, but declined to say how long it would take to be approved.
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is preparing documentation to draft a request for a royal pardon, but when it would be submitted was at his discretion, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Thaksin returned to Thailand in a vaunted homecoming last week after spending 15 years abroad in self-exile. Hours after his arrival, Srettha Thavisin of the Shinawatra family-backed Pheu Thai party sailed through a parliamentary vote to become prime minister, fuelling speculation that Thaksin had struck a deal with his former enemies among the country's conservative and royalist military that ousted his governments in 2006 and 2014.