Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra avoided a likely prison term Friday after his royal defamation case was dismissed.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire former prime minister of Thailand, remains one of the country’s most influential and controversial figures nearly two decades after being ousted in a 2006 military coup.

A court in Thailand dismissed a royal insult case on Friday against influential former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, clearing the first hurdle in a series of high-stakes court rulings involving the powerful Shinawatra political dynasty.