FORMER Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that he had been acquitted of royal defamation today, an allegation that could have sent him to prison for up to 15 years.

Mr Thaksin, smiling as he walked away from the courtroom, responded to journalists’ questions with a single word: “Dismissal.”

His lawyer, Winyat Chatmontree, also confirmed the acquittal, but the Bangkok Criminal Court did not immediately issue a statement.

The crime of defaming Thailand’s monarchy, known as “lese majeste,” is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. The Thai legislation is among the harshest such laws globally and has increasingly been used punish critics of the government.

Legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has said that, since early 2020, more than 270 people have been charged with violating the law.

Mr Winyat told reporters that the court had dismissed the case against Mr Thaksin on several grounds. He said the court had found the witnesses and evidence too weak to support conviction.

Mr Thaksin was originally charged in 2016 over remarks he made a year earlier to journalists in South Korea. The case was not pursued at that time because he was in exile.

Mr Winyat said the court believed that the complaint against his client might have been motivated by political bias, causing his words to be unfairly interpreted.