A Thai court on Wednesday charged an adviser to Cambodian strongman Hun Sen with hiring others to carry out a “premeditated murder” in the brazen killing of a former Cambodian opposition politician in Bangkok last week. An arrest warrant was issued.
The warrant is the strongest evidence yet that Lim Kimya, who was shot dead on a busy street, was the victim of a political assassination. He was a former member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved under pressure from Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for about 40 years as prime minister. Hun Sen handed over the post to his son Hun Manet in 2023, but remains the leader of his own party and the Senate.
Named in the arrest warrant is Somwan Bumrungkit, 42, a dual Thai-Cambodian citizen known in Cambodia as Lee Rotanakraksmei. Thai prosecutors indicted him on three charges, including one related to possession of a firearm and firing a firearm. His current location remains unknown. .
Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the Hun dynasty’s Cambodian People’s Party, said that although Lee Rotanakraksmei was an advisor to Hun Sen, “what he is doing illegally is It is the responsibility of the Hun Sen has appointed dozens of advisers, but the exact nature of his relationship with Lee Rotanakraksmei was not immediately clear.
Last Tuesday, Lim Kimya, 73, a dual citizen of France and Cambodia, was shot dead by a gunman as he stepped off a bus from Cambodia to neighboring Thailand. The suspect fled on a motorcycle and entered Cambodia in a pickup truck. However, a few days later he was arrested and extradited to Thailand, where authorities identified him as Ekaruk Paenoi. He confessed to the killing but told Thai investigators that he could not reveal the mastermind for fear of his family’s safety.
Cambodian opposition figures, including former CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, said Hun Sen was ultimately responsible for the killings.
The killings are seen as a major escalation in Cambodia’s cross-border crackdown, which has secured the deportation of dissidents in recent months. Thailand and Malaysia. France condemned the move and said it would closely monitor the investigation by Thai authorities.
“This sends a frightening message that no one is safe,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If you can target someone of that stature and do it in such a disrespectful manner, on the streets of downtown Bangkok in broad daylight, in front of CCTV footage, you have a lot of profile. Imagine what you can do with someone who is not an opposition politician or a second nationality.”
Ms Pearson said that following the killing, Cambodians living in Thailand contacted her organization out of concern for their safety. She said there was an urgent need for foreign governments to quickly resettle Cambodian refugees and asylum seekers.
Before its suppression, the Cambodia National Rescue Party posed the biggest threat to Hun Sen’s rule. The fugitive, Lee Rotanakraksmei, was a Thai CNRP official. However, in 2022 he joined the CPP and Advisor to Mr. Hun Sen January of last year.
Separately, Thai news media reported that Interpol is seeking the arrest of Pich Kimsrin, a 24-year-old Cambodian man who Thai authorities have identified as a so-called witness to the killing. According to family photos and birth certificates, Pich Kimslin appears to be the younger brother of Pich Slos, a pro-government politician best known for filing the complaint that led to the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017. Pich Kimslin remains at large.
Pich Sloss is a member of the government’s Supreme Advisory Council, a position equivalent to that of a senior minister and government advisor, and is the founder of his own small party, the Cambodian Youth Party, which is affiliated with the CPP. , he declined. to comment.
In May 2023, Mr. Pich Kimsrin was appointed Deputy Director of Psar Kandal Market in Phnom Penh, reporting to Mr. Kien Chak. Another advisor to Hun Sen.
Muktita Suhartono Contributing to a report from Bangkok, San Narin This is a contribution from Phnom Penh.
