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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta\u00a0<\/strong>–\u00a0Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra<\/a>, who’s\u00a0<\/span>serving a one-year prison term for corruption, is set to be released on parole in May,\u00a0according to a Department of Corrections statement on Wednesday,\u00a0DW\u00a0<\/em>reported.<\/p>\n Shinawatra, who is 76 years old,\u00a0will walk out of prison on May 11 and will “need to comply with all conditions” until his probation ends, including wearing an electronic monitor, the statement said.<\/p>\n His age and the fact that he had less than a year left to serve out his sentence justified\u00a0his early release, the statement added.<\/p>\n Shinawatra began serving his\u00a0prison sentence on September 9 in Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison.<\/p>\n That sentence followed a court hearing on\u00a0whether officials had mishandled Shinawatra’s return to Thailand in 2023, after he spent years in self-exile.<\/p>\n Shinawatra was ousted as prime minister in a military coup in 2006.\u00a0He fled Thailand in 2008 when he faced prison time for conflict of interest, abuse of power, and corruption during his time in power.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shinawatra, who’s also a billionare businessman,\u00a0said the charges were politically motivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was sentenced to an eight-year prison term as\u00a0soon as he returned to Thailand in 2023.\u00a0Days later, the\u00a0king commuted his sentence\u00a0to a one-year term, fueling speculations that he had made a deal with the government friendly to him.<\/p>\n Thailand<\/a> is a constitutional monarchy, giving the king the final word on pardons of convicted criminals.<\/p>\n Read:\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Former South Korean First Lady Kim Handed Longer Graft Sentence<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nWhy was Shinwatra in prison?<\/h2>\n