CONVICTED de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra who is speculated will be released on parole on Feb. 22 now faces charges under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law, and the Computer Crimes Act with the Corrections Department being notified to hold him, Matichon newspaper said this morning (Feb. 6).
The billionaire, politically powerful convict has not spent a single day behind bars at Bangkok Remand Prison where he had been originally destined after he returned from self-exile abroad on Aug. 22 last year, the same day real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin was named prime minister, to face criminal charges of misconduct which he had perpetrated during his previous premiership nearly a couple of decades earlier.
While sentenced in absentia by court to eight years in prison he has been given royal pardon to the extent that his jail term be curtailed to only one year with the possibility of being released on parole this month.
As the 180-day period ends on Feb. 18 it is expected he will be released on parole on Feb. 22.
However it was reported that the Office of Attorney-General issued a letter on Jan. 19 ordering the prosecution of Thaksin on charges violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code and the Computer Crimes Act.
A letter has also been sent to the Corrections Department to hold Thaksin in accordance with the arrest warrant.
Meanwhile Ms. Wirangrong Dabbaransi, head of Network of Universities for Reform, posted two letters with one dated Jan. 19 being from the Attorney-General’s Office stating the progress of litigation against Thaksin on Section 112 charges filed on Sept. 19, 2016 and a notification to hold him according to the arrest warrant.
The other letter was issued Technology Crime Suppression Division police dated Oct. 18, 2023 that says they have to prosecute Thaksin according to the Computer Crime Act 2017. However as he is undergoing medical treatment at Police Hospital the Corrections Department was asked to inform when they could question him on these charges.
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De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra. Top file photo: VOA, Front Page: BBC
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