Survey underway for convicts due for Royal pardon
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Around 200,000 inmates were initially deemed as eligible for jail time reduction in various degrees - or even jail term suspension - as per the Royal pardon decree 2016, Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said Wednesday.
Paiboon confirmed the decree didn't pardon those sentenced for rape as the criteria reflected society's sentiment in seeking justice for such an offence.
Details, such as names and release dates of the first batch of inmates to return to society early were not yet set, Paiboon said; but the permanent secretary for justice and the Corrections Department chief had surveyed eligible inmates.
So far 200,000 - out of 300,000 locked up nationwide – were eligible for serving-time reduction and sentence suspension (hence immediate release), he said. Whether former politician Chonsawat Asavahame would walk free after being jailed for months over his role in the 1999 election fraud, Paiboon said that could happen if his case matched the decree's criteria.
