Hello and welcome to the details of Thai court grants ex-PM Thaksin permission to leave country amid royal insult charges and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A Thai court on Friday granted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra permission to leave the country, a court statement said, a rare exception for a defendant facing royal insult charges. — AFP pic
BANGKOK, Jan 31 — A Thai court on Friday granted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra permission to leave the country, a court statement said, a rare exception for a defendant facing royal insult charges.
The 75-year-old billionaire was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse of power after he returned to Thailand two years ago following 15 years in exile, though he was pardoned by the king six months later.
Last year, he was charged with lese-majeste over comments he made to a South Korean media outlet nine years previously, and is set to face trial in July.
According to Thai law, defendants facing trial must remain in the country unless granted special permission by a court.
On Friday, a court decided to allow him to leave, citing “the benefits of international relations” as a reason for his temporary departure, though it did not elaborate on the purpose of the trip.
In December, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim appointed Thaksin as his ASEAN advisor as he took the chair of Southeast Asia’s regional bloc this year.
Although Thaksin has previously said he would not be involved in politics, he remains active, including by campaigning for his former party Pheu Thai.
“The court has considered and allowed the defendant to leave the kingdom between July 2-3, which does not affect the trial,” the court statement said.
The billionaire ex-PM must report to authorities within three days of his return.
Thailand has some of the world’s strictest lese-majeste laws, with any criticism of King Maha Vaijralongkorn or his immediate family punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Critics and rights groups say the law is abused to stifle legitimate debate. — AFP
These were the details of the news Thai court grants ex-PM Thaksin permission to leave country amid royal insult charges for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
