Kim Lindegaard Nielsen, the convicted Danish Bandidos member who has been held in Thai police custody since July 2006, was Monday morning 15 January released from Thai prison – although it may be difficult for Kim himself to see the big difference. A few minutes past nine the main iron gates of the prison opened up and Kim Lindegaard Nielsen was led out in handcuffs, but before his handcuffs were even removed, he was directly placed on the backseat of a station wagon and sandwiched between two immigration police offers and driven off to be locked up in Bangkok’s immigration prison.
The immigration police team was headed by an officer who explained that transfer to Immigration prison was in line with a letter they had received from the Royal Danish Embassy. From Immigration Prison he will be released in a few days, when his departure from Thailand has been arranged, he explained.
The Danish embassy was not present during the transaction, but the release was witnessed by the Danish reporter Morten Perregaard who has visited the Dane frequently during his imprisonment.
“Kim came out wearing the yellow t-shirt, the trousers and slippers he wore when arrested one and a half year ago. He carried two plastic bags in his hands who were cuffed behind his back. He is still a very big guy and just had time to bend over and kiss Linda (his wife) on the cheek but that was all – then he was led over to the truck and placed between two policemen and with flashing light driven out of the prison compound,” he told ScandAsia.
The Danish bandidos member was late December convicted to 18 months in prison for threatening another member while living on Koh Samui to eat three amphetamin pills. Originally the Dane was together with two others arrested on suspicion that they had laundered money in Thai real estate business transactions to the tune of 3 billion Thai baht.
ScandAsia will later provide a more detailed article.
