Bangkok’s police chief says initial investigations suggest a gunman was hired to carry out Tuesday’s shooting.
Thai police have issued an arrest warrant for a gunman suspected of shooting a Cambodian opposition politician in a brazen attack in downtown Bangkok on Tuesday.
Bangkok police chief Siam Boonsom told reporters on Wednesday that initial investigations led to the belief that the gunman had been hired for the shooting. Lim Kimya’s killing came as Cambodia’s former ruler Hun Sen demanded that anyone who opposes the country’s regime, now led by his son Hun Manet, be labeled a “terrorist.”
“We have collected evidence and know who the perpetrator is… At the moment we are working to arrest him,” Siam told reporters.
The victim may have been identified as the attacker by another person, the police chief added, pointing out that this person was also being sought.
He declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
“Thai authorities should promptly 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 Cambodia National Rescue Party, the popular opposition that was dissolved by a court ahead of a 2018 election over an alleged treason plot.
The CNRP said at the time that the allegations against it were fabricated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
Government indicted
Numerous 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. Human rights groups accused him of using the legal system to suppress resistance to his rule. He resigned in 2023 and handed over power to his son Hun Manet, but is still considered a major power in the kingdom.
Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s long-time rival, accused him of being behind the murder.
“Hun Sen’s hand can be seen behind the assassination of Lim Kimya, just as it was behind the 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 AFP the killing took place in Thailand, “so Thai authorities will look into the case.”
He denied that the government was involved in the killing and said opposition figures “always accuse the government of everything baselessly and without evidence.”
