AMID an allegation that the recent reshuffle of Corrections Department officials could be linked to convicted de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, this agency today (Jan. 28) denied this was the case pointing out the shakeup was aimed at boosting efficiency, Thai Rath newspaper.
Mr. Sondhi Limthongkul, a former media mogul who had led now-defunct People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and who originally was a strong supporter of Thaksin but later became a leader of the anti-Thaksin movement, questioned the reshuffle of this department’s officials in a live broadcast on Facebook under his own name on Friday (Jan. 26).
Sondhi said that officials who disagreed with the policy of detaining a prisoner at another facility were transferred and replaced by those who supported Thakin’s continued stay at a private ward on the 14th floor of the Police Hospital.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict has not spent a single day behind bars at Bangkok Remand Prison where he had been originally destined to since he returned from self-exile abroad last August to face criminal charges of misconduct which he had perpetrated during his previous premiership nearly a couple of decades earlier.
Thaksin who had been sentenced in absentia by court to eight years in prison has been given royal pardon to the extent that his jail term be curtailed to only one year with the possibility of being released on parole next month.
In the face of this damaging allegation, the Corrections Department clarified that the departmental shakeup announced on Jan. 19 was aimed at assigning officials to efficiently support all dimensions of correctional work, including stepping in to help out amid shortage of manpower.
Officials were rotated to support the missions in correctional work, including prisoner control, penology, character development, professional training and public relations.
Those with knowledge, ability, skill and expertise were assigned work which effectively supports and helps drive the overall mission of the department for the highest benefit of the government, the department said.
CAPTION:
Convicted de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, left, and Mr. Sonthi Limthongkul, right, with the Corrections Department logo at the centre. Photo: Thai Rath
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