A Thai man accused of killing a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok said he committed the crime to repay someone who helped him during a tough period in his life, police told AFP.
Ekkalak Paenoi confessed to the crime Saturday in a livestream video after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorized gun ownership. On Monday, a Thai court approved 12 days of detention for Ekkalak.
Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was gunned down on Tuesday by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, although a government spokesman has denied official involvement.
Ekkalak — who Thai media have said was a former marine — was arrested in Cambodia on Wednesday, before being extradited to Thailand on Saturday.
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“The shooter said he took this job to pay a debt of gratitude to someone who had helped him during a tough period after he was sacked from the navy,” said Attaporn Wongsiripreeda, a senior police official in Bangkok.
Some Thai media reports said he was paid 60,000 baht ($1,700), but Attaporn told a local broadcaster that Ekkalak claimed he did not receive payment.
Attaporn refused to elaborate when asked by AFP.
Another senior police official said Saturday that an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice had also been issued.
Scores of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to avoid alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.
Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades, 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 power in the kingdom.
On Tuesday, Hun Sen called for a new law to label anyone who attempts to topple Hun Manet’s government as “terrorists”.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party said in a statement it was “deeply shocked and appalled by the brutal and inhumane assassination” and urged Thai authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party had been expected to present a strong challenge to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of ex-Prime Minister Hun Sen in the 2018 general election. But as part of a sweeping crackdown on opposition before the poll, the high court dissolved the party, and the ruling party subsequently won every seat in the National Assembly.
Recent posts on Lim Kimya’s Facebook page were critical of the government, including how it had spent state money unnecessarily on events that did not benefit the Cambodian people.
Under Hun Sen, who held power for almost four decades, Cambodia was widely criticized for human rights abuses that included the suppression of freedom of speech and association. He was succeeded in August 2023 by his American-educated son, Hun Manet, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.
Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, said the shooting “has all the hallmarks of a political assassination, and looks to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok” to intimidate opposition of the ruling government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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