Trial opens over Bangkok murder of French-Cambodian ex-MP
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Anne-Marie Lim (centre) holding a picture of her late husband Lim Kimya as she speaks to the press before the first witness hearing in the trial at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on Sept 30.
PHOTO: AFP
Bangkok – An alleged gunman went on trial on Sept 30 in Bangkok over the murder of a former Cambodian opposition politician, whose widow has called for a full accounting of who was behind the killing.
French national Lim Kimya, 73, was shot dead on Jan 7 by a motorcyclist as the former MP arrived in the Thai capital.
A Thai citizen, Ekkalak Paenoi, was arrested in neighbouring Cambodia a day later and handed over to Thai authorities. He now faces a premeditated murder charge.
Ekkalak confessed to the killing in a live-stream video, but Mr Lim Kimya’s widow Anne-Marie Lim on Sept 30 said: “I want to know the reason for this crime and who ordered it. That’s what I want to know most of all.”
Speaking to AFP outside the court in Bangkok, Ms Lim, who carried a portrait of her slain husband, added: “His death has turned everything upside down in my daily life.”
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.
Current Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has denied his government’s involvement or that of his father Hun Sen.
The former premier led Cambodia for nearly four decades until 2023, and Western nations and rights groups have long accused his government of using the legal system to crush the opposition.
Flanked by her legal team on Sept 30, Ms Lim said she wanted justice for her husband, who she called a “hero”.
“He defended the Cambodian people, and he only thought about doing good and improving life in Cambodia. That’s why he was in opposition to the government.”
Also on trial is Thai national Chakrit Buakhil, believed to be the man who drove Ekkalak to the Cambodian border after the shooting, Ms Lim’s lawyer told AFP.
Some Thai media reports said the alleged shooter was paid 60,000 baht (S$2,400) for the killing, but the police said he claimed he did not receive payment and took the job “to pay a debt of gratitude”.
Cambodian suspects
Mr Lim was an MP in Cambodia from 2013 to 2017, when his party, the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved by the country’s Supreme Court.
He then withdrew from politics and returned to France, a statement from his wife’s lawyers said.
Thai police said in January that they were seeking to arrest a Cambodian national believed to be the mastermind behind Mr Lim’s killing.
They identified two Cambodian suspects: Ly Ratanakrasksmey, accused of having recruited the gunman, and Pich Kimsrin, the alleged lookout who, local media reported, was on the bus alongside the victim and his wife.
Days after the killing, following media reports that Ratanakrasksmey was a former adviser to Mr Hun Sen, Cambodia’s ruling party released a statement saying he had been dismissed from the role in March 2024.
“We have learnt that there are two (Cambodians), one of whom organised this crime,” Ms Lim said before entering the court on Sept 30.
She added that she feared the alleged mastermind may never be held accountable – even though his name is known, and he is believed to be in Cambodia.
Ms Nadthasiri Bergman, one of her lawyers in Thailand, told AFP that since the gunman had confessed, she believed he would be convicted.
“But our concern is that we might not get to the bottom of why the assassination happened, and we hope to find that answer today during the witness examination,” she said.
The trial is expected to conclude in March. AFP
