BANGKOK, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thai Corrections Department Director-General Narach Sawettanan said in a press statement that former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul met criteria of a royal pardon and was thus released on Wednesday morning.
The royal pardon was granted to prisoners on the occasion of His Majesty the King's Coronation Ceremony in May while Sondhi who broke securities and stock market laws, was judged as not eligible for release but have him prison term reduced then, the statement said.
The royal pardon said those who used to be managers or being in the leadership of a financial institution that broke securities and stock market laws could only have their prison term reduced.
Then, by occasion, the Corrections Department found that Sondhi's company was not a financial institution and he is now 72 and thus met the criteria for release, as prisoners beyond 70 could be released according to the royal pardon.
The statement also said Sondhi had demonstrated good behavior during the three-year and a month jail term and the decision was made after consultation with the Criminal Court and the Office of Attorney-General.
Thailand's Supreme Court upheld the lower court's 20-year jail sentence on Sondhi on fraud charges in September 2016.
Sondhi, the founder of media giant Manager Media Group, was found guilty of the fraud charges in which he had managed to doctor corporate statements involving 1,078 million baht (about 30 million U.S. dollars) in bank loans taken between 1996 and 1997.
Sondhi, a media mogul, was one of the leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), or known as the yellow-shirt.
