Thai police search for hitman who shot Cambodian opposition leader. news
The Bangkok police chief says a preliminary investigation suggests a gunman was hired to carry out Tuesday’s shooting.
Police in Thailand have issued an arrest warrant for a gunman suspected of shooting dead a Cambodian opposition politician in a brutal attack in downtown Bangkok on Tuesday.
Bangkok police chief Siam Boonsam told reporters on Wednesday that a preliminary investigation led him to believe the gunman was hired to carry out the shooting. Lim Kimya’s assassination came as Cambodia’s former ruler Hun Sen demanded that anyone opposing his rule of the country, now led by his son Hun Manet, be labeled as “terrorists” .
“We have collected evidence and know who the culprit is…right now we are working to arrest him,” Siam told reporters.
The police chief said that the victim was probably identified as the killer by another person, noting that this person was also wanted.
He declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
“Thai authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Kimya, 74, was a member of the popular opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by a court ahead of the 2018 election over an alleged treason plot.
The CNRP said at the time that the charges against him were fabricated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
accused the government
Hundreds of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to escape alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years, with rights groups accusing him of using the legal system to crush opposition to his rule. He stepped down and handed power to his son Hun Manet in 2023, but is still seen as a major force in the state.
Hun Sen’s longtime rival Sam Rainsy accused him of being behind the assassination.
“Hun Sen can be seen to be behind the murder of Lim Kimya, just as he is behind countless political crimes in Cambodia that have always gone unpunished,” Sam Rainsy said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. “
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona told the AFP news agency that the murder took place in Thailand “so Thai authorities will handle the case”.
He denied government involvement in the murder and said that opposition people “always blame the government for everything baselessly and without any evidence”.
