Thai police seek to arrest suspected killer of former Cambodian lawmaker From Reuters

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for an alleged hitman who killed a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in a brazen attack in Bangkok’s crowded old quarter, police said.

Former lawmaker Lim Kimya, 74, who had arrived in Thailand just hours earlier, was killed Tuesday by a gunman who was waiting to shoot him three times, said a police official, who declined to be named because he did not they were not authorized to speak. media.

Lim Kimya, a Cambodian and French national, had crossed into Thailand from Cambodia at noon on Tuesday with his wife and brother and traveled to Bangkok by bus before he was shot dead, the official said.

Police Colonel Sanong Saengmanee, superintendent of the local precinct, told Reuters that an arrest warrant had been issued for a 41-year-old motorcycle taxi driver for premeditated murder.

Bangkok police chief General Siam Boonsom said an investigation so far indicated the killer was a hitman.

“We have gathered evidence and we know who the perpetrator is… Now we are working to arrest him,” he told reporters.

Lim Kimya was a member of the National Rescue Cambodia Party, the popular opposition that was dissolved by a court before the 2018 election for an alleged treason plot. The CNRP said at the time that the charges against him were fabricated by the Cambodian People’s Party.

POLICE ATTEMPT RESUSCITATION

Surrounded by a pool of blood, Lim Kimya lay on his back, dressed in a blue polo shirt and white shorts, as a police officer attempted to revive him, according to a photo shared by first responders. A small blue briefcase was nearby.

“Thai authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate those responsible,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“The Cambodian government has intimidated, surveilled and harassed former CNRP members – including those living in exile in neighboring Thailand.”

Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona said the killing was a matter for the authorities of Thailand, a sovereign state. He said the Cambodian government was often accused by opposition “extremists” of being behind the incidents.

The Cambodian and French embassies and Thailand’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.

Thai authorities were rushing to arrest the suspect and determine whether the motives were personal or other, government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said.

“We don’t want our opposition party to link this to politics because it would have an impact on the image of the country,” he said.

Three police officers told Reuters the suspect is a former Marine. They declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Cambodia’s government, led by the CPP for more than four decades, has waged a ruthless, years-long crackdown on its opponents, with dozens of politicians and activists jailed, many in absentia, and hundreds more fleeing into exile. He denied persecuting the opposition.

Lim Kimya was not a prominent member of the opposition movement. Police said they are still investigating the motive for his murder.