Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a petition for a royal pardon for his one-year jail sentence, his lawyer said on Monday.
He was jailed earlier this month after the Supreme Court ruled that he did not serve his initial prison sentence after spending six months in a VIP room of a hospital following his return from 15 years of self-exile in August 2023.
Thaksin, 76, was initially sentenced to eight years in jail for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006. His sentence was later commuted to one year by the king.
Thaksin's request for royal pardon, a process available to all prisoners who have completed their legal cases, could lead to the reduction of his current prison time.
"The petition was submitted," Winyat Chartmontree told reporters, adding, "This is a right of every inmate." The former PM has been in Thai politics for around thirty years, winning nearly every election since 2001.
