BANGKOK – Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a new appeal for a Royal pardon, following a recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered his imprisonment to serve a one-year sentence for corruption convictions. The appeal has been processed by the Ministry of Justice and forwarded to the Office of the Secretary-General of the Cabinet for consideration, according to a high-level source within the ministry.

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The source confirmed that every prisoner with a concluded case maintains the right to seek a Royal pardon, a right also extended to their immediate family members through the Corrections Department. Standard procedure requires the department to assess the appeal’s merits before submitting it through the justice minister to the cabinet secretariat and finally to the Office of the Privy Council. The source emphasized that such appeals cannot be withheld and must be forwarded with recommendations regarding the suitability of clemency.

Imprisoned former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has appealed again for a Royal pardon, after being ordered by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office to be sent to prison to serve the one-year sentence for his convictions on corruption charges.… pic.twitter.com/1QqK3RjMxZ

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This new appeal comes despite Thaksin having previously received a Royal commutation that reduced his original eight-year sentence to one year. The situation is complicated by the Supreme Court’s September 9 ruling that Thaksin’s six-month stay at the Police General Hospital was not medically justified and that his one-year prison sentence remained unenforced. The source noted that Thaksin may consider his sentence already served through his hospital stay and subsequent parole period. The final decision on any pardon or sentence reduction rests solely with the monarch, whose authority in such matters remains inviolable.

-Thailand News (TN)