Convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand to face legal consequences because he is a peacemaker who wants to see reconciliation in Thailand, Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong claimed in parliament during the debate on the government’s budget bill on Wednesday.

He defended the Corrections Department‘s issuance of a ministerial regulation to allow convicts to serve their terms outside prison, saying that a regulation on the same matter was issued three years ago, but the Corrections Department only acted on it last year.

He insisted that the regulation was not designed to benefit Thaksin specifically, but all qualified convicts, adding that prison is not a place in which to kill or torture convicts and any inmate who is sick is entitled to be treated in hospitals outside the prison.

Regarding the question over whether Thaksin is actually ill, Tawee said that, although he has not visited Thaksin at the Police General Hospital, doctors there have confirmed that the former prime minister is suffering from numerous illnesses.

Since his arrival in Thailand in August, Thaksin has been in the hospital for more than the 120-day limit.

Tawee said he is waiting for a report from the director-general of the Corrections Department and the hospital doctors about whether Thaksin should be allowed to stay at the hospital any longer.