Supporters of Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hold a banner and his portrait outside the Supreme Court in Bangkok on Oct. 21, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Thailand's Supreme Court Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions pronounced on Tuesday a two-year sentence on a land purchase scandal against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin is the first Thai prime minister who was adjudicated of imprisonment by the court.

The reading of the verdict started at 2 p.m. at local time, while the former prime minister and his wife Pojaman were both absent when the court ruling was announced.

Thaksin was ousted in a September 2006 coup and is now in exile in Britain.

The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 to say that Thaksin knew about the land purchase by his wife from the Financial Institutions Development Fund.

The court ruled that with the knowledge, Thaksin also carried out actions that constituted conflict of interest on part of Thaksin as a state official.

The jail term was given without suspension. However, because Thaksin is currently living in London, an arrest warrant was also issued for him.

The court ruled 7:2 to clear Thaksin's wife Khunying Potjaman of all charges, citing that she was not a state official.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2008)