Three former Bhumjaithai Party MPs imprisoned for ethical violations will be released on parole on Sunday, according to the Department of Corrections.
The three are Natee Ratchakitprakarn, a former list MP and the wife of Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn; Chalong Thoetwiraphong, a former Phatthalung Constituency 2 MP; and Phumsit Khongmi, a former Phatthalung Constituency 1 MP.
All were handed nine-month prison terms by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on June 11 this year for an ethical violation. They were found to have allowed other MPs to use their electronic voting cards during a vote on a budget bill in January 2020.
It resulted in the second and third readings of the bill being ruled illegitimate. The three were also stripped of their political rights.
According to corrections officials, all three met the criteria for being released on parole and are scheduled to be released from the Bangkok Special Prison and the Central Women’s Correctional Institution on Sunday.
Natee will stay at the home of her husband in Bangkok, while Chalong and Phumsit will spend the rest of their sentences at their homes in Phatthalung.
All three of them will wear electronic monitoring bracelets and must report to a probation officer on a regular basis until their sentences are complete.
Watchara Petchthong, a former Democrat list MP and a frequent critic of the Department of Corrections, congratulated Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul and the families of the parolees.
While the ex-MPs had served half of their sentences and met other conditions for parole, he questioned whether the department would afford the same privilege to poorer people.
“I would like to ask the Department of Corrections to apply the same standards to general prisoners, the poor and the poor nationwide,” he said.
“Don’t build prisons to imprison only the poor or those without connections.”