Former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra Freed After 6 Months In Detention

After spending more than 15 years in self-imposed exile, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was freed from detention on Sunday after serving six months in jail, CNN reported.

Prime Minister Thaksin was sentenced to eight years in prison for conflicts of interest, misuse of power, and corruption during his tenure in office.

He was overthrown in a military coup in 2006 and returned to Thailand in August.

He then filed a request for a royal pardon, which resulted in his jail sentence being lowered to one year. The 74-year-old was one of 930 prisoners who received parole earlier this month due to their advanced age or medical conditions, reported CNN.

The Thai Corrections Department stated that he had previously been moved to a hospital because of tightness in his chest, elevated blood pressure, and low oxygen levels.

The rural and working classes in Thailand greatly supported Thaksin during his tenure in office, but the wealthy elites and conservatives detested his ideas, branding him as a dangerous and dishonest populist.

In a politically charged moment, his release from prison brings back to Thailand a formidable and contentious figure.

The former Prime Minister was spotted leaving the Police General Hospital in Bangkok on Sunday with his daughters, Paetongtarn and Pintongta Shinawatra, in a black van. He was wearing a neck collar and an arm sling, according to CNN.

When he arrived back at his Bangkok flat, he saw a handmade sign greeting him home hanging on the gate.