Yingluck not to benefit from new rules on home detention: Tawee

Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said on Sunday that exiled former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra would not benefit from the new home-detention rules that would take effect early next year.

Tawee said the new rules would be enacted and implemented after next month, but he declined to give the exact timeframe.

He insisted that Yingluck would not be eligible as her penalty was higher than the conditions for home detention.

Tawee said the draft of home-detention rules passed a public hearing on December 17 and most members of the public supported the rules.

He said he initially expected the rules to be announced before the New Year holidays but a lot of preparations have yet to be made before they could be enforced.

For example, the Corrections Department has yet to set up panels to review qualifications of inmates eligible for home detention and their homes would have to be equipped with closed-circuit TV cameras for monitoring.

Tawee said home detention would be allowed for inmates who have serious illness and whose imprisonment term is less than four years.

He said inmates’ health conditions would be the first factor for consideration. For example, inmates with kidney failure or terminal-stage cancer should be allowed to complete their remaining terms at home to be able to receive treatment.

The new rules would also reduce congestion in prisons, Tawee said.

Last month, Yingluck’s brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, reiterated that he expected her to return to Thailand around April next year.

Thaksin made the statement while the Justice Ministry was reportedly considering new rules for ill inmates to be detained at home or at places outside prisons.

This led to speculation that Yingluck would enjoy the same privileges given to her brother. Thaksin returned to Thailand in August last year. He was supposed to serve a commuted jail term of one year but he did not spend even a single night in prison because he was taken to the Police General Hospital the very night he was sent to the prison. Thaksin remained in the hospital for six months until he was released on parole.

“Khun Yingluck will not be eligible because her penalty is longer than the condition for home detention,” Tawee said.

He was speaking to reporters before he visited inmates at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution to give them New Year presents.

He said the institution housed 4,000 inmates and most of the inmates were not drug convicts, unlike in other prisons. He said 40% of inmates at the institution were drug convicts, compared with 80% at other prisons.

Tawee said the Justice Ministry was allowing relatives to visit inmates at the institution throughout New Year holidays.