Thai Kima Kima Kima Policy killer sentenced to life imprisonment

A Thai court has condemned a man of life in prison for the murder of a prominent politician from the opposition opposition in Cambodia in Bangkok.

In January, hours after Lim Kima arrived in Thailand’s capital with his wife, he was shot in public by Thai National Ekkalak Paenoi. Then Ekalak escaped to Cambodia, where he was arrested and deported.

Initially, Eckalac was handed over to him the death penalty, but this was replaced to life in prison because of his confession to the murder, the court said on Friday.

The reason for Lim Kima’s murder remains unclear – Although he is widely suspected of being a politically motivated murder.

Opposition politicians and activists are often closed and harassed in Cambodia, where authorities have little tolerance to political disagreement.

Lim Kima, who had double Cambodia and French nationality, was a former parliamentary from the main opposition party in Cambodia, the National Rescue Party in Cambodia (CNRP).

CNRP approached the victory of the longtime party of former leader Hun Saint in 2013.

After Hun Sen accused CNRP of state treason, the party was banned in 2017 and its members were forbidden to participate in political activities.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet – who inherited his father Hun Saint in 2023 – denied that the government was involved in the murder of Lim.

The footage of the security camera since January showed that Eckalac park was parking his motorcycle, removing his helmet and walking quietly on the road before the shots broke out.

Ekalac was also found guilty of carrying and using a firearm and ordered to pay about $ 55,000 ($ 40,800) to Lim Kima’s family.

The court has rejected a charge against another defendant, a Thailand National, accused of driving Ekalac to the Cambodian border after the shooting – on the grounds that he is only a driver who does not know about the murder.

Lim Kima’s widow’s lawyer told the News Agency AFP that she was probably pleased with the sentence on Friday, although “he is still asking who ordered the crime.”

“She wants the authorities to reach his bottom.”

In recent years, dozens of activists who have fled the repression in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand have been sent back after searching for a sanctuary, or in some cases they have been killed or disappeared.

Human rights groups believe that there is an unwritten agreement among the four neighboring countries to allow others to persecute dissidents over the border.