Ex-Prime Minister Thaksin enters prison in Thailand

Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted fugitive former prime minister of Thailand, returned to the country Tuesday for the first time after more than 15 years in self-exile, reintroducing a towering and divisive figure at a time when the kingdom’s often fraught political scene is in a fresh state of flux.

Thaksin, the head of a famed political dynasty and a former owner of Manchester City Football Club, was prime minister from 2001 until he was ousted in a military coup in 2006 while in New York attending a UN meeting, reports CNN.

He returned to Thailand briefly before fleeing the country in 2008 over a corruption conviction and upon his arrival Tuesday the Supreme Court sentenced him to eight years in prison. However, analysts say it is unclear whether he will serve that time.

Thaksin’s return after so many years coincides with an expected parliamentary vote for a new prime minister, with lawmakers hoping to break a political deadlock more than three months after elections were won by a popular progressive party that has been stymied by the kingdom’s political elites.

For weeks, Thaksin, 74, has hinted at his homecoming but the first real sign came Tuesday morning when videos showed his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who also lives in self-exile, hugging her brother before he boarded a plane in Singapore.

Thousands of people tracked Thaksin’s private jet as it landed at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport at 9 a.m. local time. He exited the airport’s private jet terminal some 90 minutes later alongside his children and greeted a crowd of supporters before bowing to a portrait of Thailand’s king.