Thailand's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve a one-year prison term for prior convictions on corruption and abuse of power charges. The decision follows a judicial inquiry into whether corrections officials mishandled his return to the country in 2023.

Thaksin was convicted in absentia in three corruption cases between 2008 and 2013, including abuse of power in a lottery scheme and conflict of interest in a bank loan arrangement. Together, the convictions carried an eight-year sentence. In August 2023, soon after his return from 15 years in self-imposed exile, King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted him a royal pardon reducing his sentence to one year.

Upon arrival, Thaksin, 74, was taken into custody but transferred within hours to a police hospital, where authorities said he was suffering from chest pain and hypertension. He remained there for six months, never serving time in a standard correctional facility. In February 2024, the Department of Corrections granted him parole, citing his age and chronic illnesses. The parole order allowed him to avoid further imprisonment.

The Supreme Court's ruling focused on the procedural irregularities of his detention. A judge stated that the enforcement of Thaksin's penalty was not done properly, and therefore his detention in a police hospital did not count as serving prison time.

Thaksin, who served as prime minister from 2001 until he was deposed in a 2006 military coup, remains a polarizing figure in Thai politics. His supporters hail him as a champion of rural development while opponents accuse him of pervasive corruption and cronyism.

Rights groups and opposition parties have argued that his parole and prolonged hospitalization amounted to special treatment, undermining equality before the law. Government officials, however, maintain that parole was legally justified under rules for elderly and ill inmates.

Following the verdict, Thaksin was immediately taken to Klong Prem Central Prison in Bangkok to begin serving his one-year sentence. In a statement before his transfer, he acknowledged the decision, saying, "From today, although I'm without freedom, I still have freedom of thought for the benefit of the country and its people."

The ruling comes amid mounting challenges for the Shinawatra family, which is considered one of the most influential in the country. In August, Thaksin's daughter and former Prime-minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office by the Constitutional Court after a leaked phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, linked to a border dispute that escalated into deadly clashes.