Thai man confesses to killing Cambodian ex-lawmaker
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Bloodstains on the ground where a former Cambodian opposition politician was shot dead in downtown Bangkok on Jan 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BANGKOK - A Thai man suspected of killing a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok has confessed to the crime, police said on Jan 11.
“I confess that I did wrong,” Ekkalak Paenoi said to police and the media after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership.
Mr Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker from the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, was gunned down on Jan 7 by a motorcyclist
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.
Police in Cambodia said they arrested the suspect on Jan 8 and took him to the Thai border following an extradition request.
He was picked up by a Thai police helicopter on Jan 11 and taken to Bangkok.
Mr Somprasong Yenthuam, a senior police official, said: “We can’t determine the motives yet; please give us time.”
Thai media have said Ekkalak was a former marine.
Mr Somprasong told reporters that an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice had also been issued.
A Cambodian government spokesman denied official involvement in the slaying.
Scores of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to avoid alleged repression at home. Some have been arrested and deported back to the country.
Mr Hun Sen ruled Cambodia 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
France has condemned the killing of Mr Lim Kimya, who also held French citizenship. AFP
