🔗 Share this article

A court in Thailand has handed down a sentence to a man to life imprisonment for murdering a prominent political dissident from Cambodia in Bangkok.

In January, shortly after Lim Kimya arrived in the capital city of Thailand with his wife, he was fatally shot in public by citizen of Thailand Ekkalak Paenoi. Ekkalak then fled to the neighboring country, where he was arrested and deported.

Ekkalak had initially been handed the capital punishment, but that was commuted to a life sentence due to his confession to the murder, the judicial body said on the recent Friday.

The reason behind the politician's assassination is still unknown - though it has been broadly believed to be a politically driven targeted killing.

Political Background in Cambodia

Opposition politicians and campaigners are often imprisoned and intimidated in the nation, where government officials have little tolerance for political dissent.

The deceased, who had dual Cambodian and French nationality, was a former parliamentarian from the primary opposition group in Cambodia, the CNRP.

This political party had nearly succeeded in defeating the long-ruling party of former leader the previous prime minister in 2013.

After Hun Sen charged the opposition party of treason, the party was outlawed in 2017 and its members were prohibited from taking part in political engagements.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet - who succeeded his parent the former PM in 2023 - has rejected claims that the administration was implicated in the assassination.

Details of the Legal Proceedings

Surveillance video from the incident month showed Ekkalak parking his motorbike, taking off his headgear and strolling calmly across the road before gunfire was heard.

The offender was also convicted of possessing and firing a gun, and instructed to pay around $55,000 (£40,800) to Lim Kimya's family.

The court dismissed a accusation against another defendant - a Thai citizen charged with transporting Ekkalak to the border with Cambodia after the incident - on the basis that he was only a driver who did not have knowledge of the killing.

Reactions and Broader Implications

The legal representative for Lim Kimya's widow told media outlet AFP that she was "probably satisfied" with the court's decision, though she was "continuing to ask who commissioned the offense".

"She desires the officials to get to the bottom of it."

In recent years dozens of activists escaping crackdowns in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand have been sent back after seeking sanctuary, or in some cases have been killed or gone missing.

Human rights groups believe there is an tacit understanding among the four adjacent nations to allow each other's law enforcement to chase opponents over the frontier.