CNN —Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released from detention on Sunday, having served six months in prison following his return to the kingdom after more than 15 years in self-imposed exile.
His jail sentence was later reduced to one year after he submitted a request for a royal pardon.
His release from prison reintroduces a towering and divisive figure to Thailand at a tense political time.
Wearing a neck collar and arm sling, the former prime minister was seen leaving the Police General Hospital in Bangkok on Sunday in a black van alongside his daughters, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Pintongta Shinawatra.
He returned to his residence in Bangkok where a handwritten banner had been hung on the gate welcoming him home.
Persons:
CNN —, Thaksin Shinawatra, Thaksin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pintongta Shinawatra
Organizations:
CNN, Thai Corrections Department, Police, Hospital
Locations:
Thailand, Bangkok