Thai court acquits former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been acquitted (AP)

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been acquitted of a royal defamation charge in a case that could have sent him to prison for up to 15 years.

The 76-year-old Thaksin, smiling as he walked away from the courtroom, was the first to reveal the verdict, responding to journalists’ questions with the single word: “Dismissal.”