A Thai court on Friday handed down the death penalty, then commuted it to life in prison, for a hitman who shot dead former Cambodian opposition lawmaker Lim Kimya in Bangkok in January, Thai media reported.
Ekkalak Paenoi, 41, a former Thai marine, was convicted of killing Lim Kimya, 71, who was gunned down in downtown Bangkok on Jan. 7 soon after arriving with his wife and brother from Cambodia.
Ekkalak was arrested the next day in Cambodia by local authorities and transferred to Thai custody.
Kimya, a Cambodian and French citizen, was a member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which the Supreme Court dissolved ahead of the 2018 election after accusing it of plotting treason. The party denied the charge, calling it fabricated, while rights groups condemned the move as political repression.
Thai courts have also issued arrest warrants for two Cambodian nationals wanted in connection with the murder, Ly Ratanaksmey and Pich Kimsrin. Authorities say the pair have left Thailand and are in Cambodia.
Pen Bona, a Cambodian government spokesperson, declined to comment on the case of the two Cambodian suspects, saying the sentencing did not involve them.
Chhay Kim Khoeun, deputy commissioner general and spokesperson for the national police, did not answer repeated phone calls.
A Cambodian Interior Ministry spokesperson told RFA Khmer in February that the constitution bars extradition of Cambodian nationals, calling the arrest warrants “useless.”
Cambodian opposition figures have accused influential former Prime Minister and current Senate President Hun Sen of ordering the shooting. His son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, has denied that he or Hun Sen were involved, and other officials have also rejected the allegations.
Thai authorities previously said Ly Ratanaksmey, a former adviser to Hun Sen, may have been the mastermind behind the killing.
The trial began just three days ago with witness testimony, including from Kimya’s widow, Anne-Marie Lim
Her lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse on Friday that while she is likely satisfied with the verdict, she still questions who ordered the killing.
Ekkalak confessed to the shooting, which led to his sentence for premeditated murder being reduced to life imprisonment. He was also found guilty of carrying a weapon and discharging a firearm in public, and ordered to pay more than $55,000 in compensation to the victim’s family.
The judge did not offer details about motives or a possible mastermind behind the murder, AFP reported.
Some Thai media reported this year that Ekkalak was paid 60,000 baht ($1,800) for the killing, but police said he claimed he did not receive payment and took the job “to pay a debt of gratitude.”
The Thai court on Friday also dismissed charges against a second defendant, Thai national Chakrit Buakhil, accused of driving Ekkalak to the Cambodian border after the shooting.
(Additional reporting by Sovann Sreypich)
Note: This article was updated at 4:05 p.m. to add comments from Cambodian government spokesperson Pen Bona.
