Thai police hunt hitman for shooting of Cambodian opposition figure 

Police in Thailand have issued an arrest warrant for a gunman suspected of shooting dead a Cambodian opposition politician in a brazen attack in downtown Bangkok on Tuesday.

Chief of Bangkok Police Siam Boonsom told reporters on Wednesday that the initial investigation led them to believe the gunman was hired to carry out the shooting. The murder of Lim Kimya came as Cambodia’s former ruler Hun Sen demanded that anyone opposing the country’s regime, now headed by his son Hun Manet, should be marked as a “terrorist”.

“We have gathered evidence and know who is the perpetrator … Right now we are working to arrest him,” Siam told reporters.

The victim was possibly identified for the assassin by another person, the police chief added, noting that this person is also wanted.

He declined to provide further details, citing a continuing investigation.

“Thai authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Kimya, 74, was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the popular opposition that was dissolved by a court ahead of a 2018 election over an alleged treason plot.

The CNRP said at the time that the charges against it were fabricated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

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.

Former Prime Minister Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years, 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.

Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s longtime rival, accused him of being behind the killing.

“Hun Sen’s hand can be seen behind the assassination of Lim Kimya, just as it has been behind the countless political crimes in Cambodia that have always gone unpunished,” Sam Rainsy said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona told AFP news agency the killing was in Thailand “so Thai authorities will handle the case”.

He denied the government was involved in the killing, saying opposition figures “always accuse the government of everything groundlessly and without any evidence”.