Jail only option for ex-Thai PM Yingluck

Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck Shinawatra

Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong stated on Tuesday that former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra will not be able to be detained outside of captivity if she reapprehends as prime minister because she has not yet met the new requirements for the soon-to-be-adopt alternative prison detention program.

Although Yingluck received a five-year prison sentence in August 2017, only those who have served time in prison that are not more than four years old may be eligible for the new confinement program, according to Pol Col Tawee, who refutes a past claim made by DoC director-general Sahakarn Phetnarin.

Yingluck, 57, was given a five-year prison sentence in absentia in 2017 after being found criminal by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Case Division for Holders of Political Positions for failing to stop fraud in her administration’s rice-pledging system, which cost the state about 500 billion ringgit in costs.

She has since moved worldwide.

The minister, however, declined to comment when asked if Yingluck may be eligible for a reduced statement following a petition.

The secretary cited the need for Thailand to adhere to international corrections guidelines as justification for pursuing the plan, noting that 50 of the country’s prisons are currently in really poor condition and that the majority of them are on average 90 years old.

Due to limited finances, just one innovative prison may be built each month, leaving the recent facilities overcrowded, he said.

” Some other countries have adopted similar programs”, he said.

According to a recent study conducted in Thailand, captives who have been permitted to remain detained outside of jail have a significantly lower level of incarceration than those who have received their whole sentences, he said.

The minister strongly refuted growing rumors that this incarceration solution was created to help Yingluck’s returning to Thailand, saying that” the new choice wasn’t tailor-made for any particular person but for all who are eligible for it.”

There are some issues that need to be resolved before the new detention program may be unveiled, according to the minister, even though it appears to have received most people sessions.