BANGKOK: Thailand’s controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted a royal pardon, his lawyer said Saturday, a day after his daughter became the kingdom’s new premier.
The 75-year-old billionaire is one of thousands granted amnesty by King Maha Vajiralongkorn in a gesture of clemency to mark his birthday.
Thaksin was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse of power charges dating back to his time in power when he returned to the kingdom almost a year ago after 15 years of self-exile.
But his sentence was cut to one year by the king and he was later released on parole because of his age and poor health.
The amnesty was announced in the official Royal Gazette, and Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chatmontree said that the two-time premier benefitted.
“Thaksin Shinawatra is among those granted the royal pardon,” he said on his personal Facebook account.
“He will later receive a document from the prison saying he is a free man.”
The Royal Gazette published on Saturday said that “the king had given opportunities for those to improve themselves and benefit their country.”
The pardon for prisoners with good conduct came almost a month after King Vajiralongkorn celebrated his 72th birthday in late July.
The ex-PM was originally set to complete his one-year parole on August 31.
Lawmakers approved on Friday Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as premier.
At 37, she is the kingdom’s youngest prime minister and the third Shinawatra to hold the job after her father and aunt Yingluck — both of whom were ousted in military coups.
Paetongtarn’s elevation to the top job came about after the kingdom’s Constitutional Court sacked previous premier Srettha Thavisin for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.
Thai king pardons ex-PM Thaksin in birthday amnesty
https://arab.news/2edqy
Thai king pardons ex-PM Thaksin in birthday amnesty
- Thaksin was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse of power charges dating back to his time in power when he returned to the kingdom almost a year ago after 15 years of self-exile
Attacks on Sudan health care facilities killed 69 this year: WHO
- “Five attacks on health care have already been recorded in Sudan, killing 69 people and injuring 49,” WHO chief wrote on X
- The WHO has confirmed at least 206 attacks on health care facilities since the start of the war
CAIRO: Five attacks on health care facilities have killed dozens of people in Sudan since the beginning of the year, the WHO said Saturday, as the war nears the start of its fourth year.
The fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has dismantled an already fragile medical system, with more than a third of facilities currently out of service.
“During the first 50 days of 2026, five attacks on health care have already been recorded in Sudan, killing 69 people and injuring 49,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.
On Sunday a hospital was targeted in the southeastern state of Sennar, leaving three patients dead and seven people wounded, including an employee, Tedros said.
In three other attacks early this month, more than 30 people were killed when medical centers were targeted in South Kordofan, a vast region south of the capital Khartoum that is currently a focus of the fighting.
The WHO has confirmed at least 206 attacks on health care facilities since the start of the war in April 2023, resulting in the deaths of around 2,000 people and injuries to several hundred.
Last year alone, 65 attacks killed more than 1,620 people, accounting for 80 percent of all deaths worldwide linked to attacks on the medical sector, according to the WHO.
Since it broke out, Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 11 million to flee their homes, triggering what the UN says is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
According to the WHO, the country is facing multiple disease outbreaks, notably cholera, malaria, dengue and measles, in addition to malnutrition.
Some 4.2 million cases of acute malnutrition are expected to arise in Sudan this year, including more than 800,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition, the WHO chief said earlier this month.
Around 33 million people will be left without humanitarian aid in 2026, with the United Nations warning in January that its aid stocks could run out by the end of March.
