A Thai gunman was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for the murder of a Cambodian politician in Bangkok, with the former lawmaker’s widow left questioning who ordered the killing.
French national Lim Kimya, a former opposition parliamentarian in Cambodia, was shot dead on Jan. 7 by Ekkalak Paenoi, as the politician arrived in Bangkok with his wife, Anne-Marie Lim.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, and Lim’s widow called this week for a full accounting of who was behind it.
Photo: AFP
Ekkalak faced a potential death sentence in Thailand for premeditated murder, but a judge yesterday said that the Bangkok court reduced his sentence to life imprisonment since he confessed.
The gunman was arrested in Cambodia a day after the shooting, and admitted to committing the murder in a livestream video.
The trial began on Tuesday with an examination of witnesses, including Anne-Marie Lim.
“Anne-Marie is probably satisfied with today’s verdict, but she is still questioning who ordered the crime,” her lawyer Nadhthasiri Bergman said yesterday. “She wants authorities to get to the bottom of it.”
Lim attended the opening of the trial and said she wanted to know the “reason for this crime and who ordered it.”
Bergman yesterday said that they knew there were additional suspects in Cambodia, and the Thai government “could help push the extradition process to bring them to justice.”
The judge did not offer details about the killer’s motive or a possible mastermind behind the murder.
Thai police in January said they identified two other Cambodian suspects: Ly Ratanakrasksmey, accused of having recruited the gunman, and Pich Kimsrin, the alleged lookout who local news reported was on the bus alongside the victim and his wife.
Days after the killing, following news reports that Ratanakrasksmey was a former adviser to Hun Sen, Cambodia’s ruling party released a statement saying he was dismissed from the role in March last year.
Some Thai news reported that Ekkalak was paid 60,000 baht (US$1,852) for the killing, but police said he claimed he did not receive payment and took the job “to pay a debt of gratitude.”
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