Thailand’s Supreme Court has ruled that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve a one-year prison sentence, declaring that his previous confinement in a hospital did not count as jail time.
“Sending him to hospital was not legal, the defendant knew his illness was not an urgent matter, and staying in hospital cannot count as a prison term,” a judge said in the ruling, according to AFP.
Thaksin, who returned from exile in August 2023, was initially sentenced to eight years for corruption and abuse of power.
He spent only a few hours in jail before being transferred to Bangkok’s Police General Hospital, where he remained in a VIP room until his release on parole six months later.
His sentence had been commuted to one year by royal pardon.
The latest decision follows scrutiny over whether Thaksin received preferential treatment.
The 74-year-old former premier returned to Thailand this week after a brief absence abroad, denying reports that he had fled ongoing inquiries.
Last month, a separate lese majeste case against him was dismissed for lack of evidence.
