Ill Kamnan Poh freed from prison
SOMCHAI “KAMNAN Poh” Khunpluem has been released from prison as a special case due to the severity of his illness, Corrections Department chief Pol Colonel Narat Sawettanan said yesterday. Somchai, 80, was eligible to receive the suspension as he has stage four cancer and is over 70 years old, Narat said.
The special suspension of a sentence is granted to convicts with serious medical conditions to allow them to have appropriate medical treatment and return home to spend the rest of their lives with their families, Narat said.
The order to release him was approved by Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong on Thursday. The department sent the letter of release to Police General Hospital where Somchai was being detained.
Somchai was arrested in Bangkok’s Pattanakarn area in January, 2013, after years on the run following corruption and murder convictions. He was sentenced to a jail term of 25 years on the murder case and five years and four months on the corruption case. He was jailed at Bangkok Remand Prison and transferred to Medical Correctional Hospital in the first night of his detention due to his illness. Four days later he was transferred to Chon Buri Prison.
