BANGKOK: A Thai man suspected of killing a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok confessed to the crime Saturday in a livestream video. Wearing a white T-shirt under a bulletproof vest, Ekkalak Paenoi told police and media, “I confess that I did wrong”, after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorized gun ownership.

“If I dared to do it, I dare to admit to it,” he added. 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. A Cambodian government spokesman has denied official involvement in the killing. Police in Cambodia said they arrested the suspect on Wednesday and took him to the Thai border on Saturday following an extradition request.

He was picked up by a Thai police helicopter on arrival and taken to Bangkok. “We can’t determine the motives yet, please give us time,” said Somprasong Yenthuam, a senior police official. Thai media have said Ekkalak was a former marine.

Somprasong told reporters an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice had also been issued. Sanong Sangmanee, police chief of the downtown area of Bangkok where the fatal shooting happened, told AFP that Ekkalak, who worked as a motorbike taxi driver, will be placed under pre-trial detention at a court in Bangkok on Monday.

‘Heinous’ killing

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. The CNRP, which was dissolved by court order in 2017, said in a statement it was shocked by “the heinous and inhumane” killing of Lim Kimya. It condemned “the brutal act that badly threatens political freedom”.

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”.

France has condemned the killing of Lim Kimya, who also held French citizenship, saying in a statement on Thursday that it would “follow the Thai authorities’ investigation closely to cast as much light as possible on the facts”. 

Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s long-time rival who lives in France, has accused the former Cambodian leader of orchestrating the killing. He also urged Thai authorities to help the French police “unmask Hun Sen’s operatives who are active in Thailand”. — AFP