Cambodia arrests suspect in Thai politician's assassination

(CLO) Cambodian police arrested a former Thai marine on Wednesday (January 8) for shooting dead a Cambodian politician in an apparent assassination in central Bangkok.

The victim, Lim Kimya, who was also a French citizen, was shot dead by a gunman on a motorbike on Tuesday as he was travelling on a bus from the Cambodian city of Siem Reap to the Thai capital, along with his French wife.

Thai police issued a warrant for the suspect on Wednesday, and in the evening, Cambodia said he was arrested at 1:50 p.m. in Battambang province, which borders Thailand.

Suspect Ekalak Paenoi, 41, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Battambang, Cambodia. Photo: Cambodian Police

"The shooter is a Thai citizen and a former Thai marine," Cambodian National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun told reporters.

Cambodian police named the suspect as Ekkalak Pheanoi - or Ekkalak Paenoi according to some Thai media reports - and said he would be extradited to Thailand.

Earlier, Sanong Sangmanee, police chief of the Bangkok region where the attack took place, said they had little information about the suspect, except that he worked as a motorbike taxi driver.

Lim Kimya became an opposition member of the Cambodian National Assembly after the 2013 election, in which Hun Sen's ruling party only narrowly defeated its then-rival, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

The CNRP, founded in 2012 by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha and once seen as the sole rival to the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), was dissolved by court order in 2017.

Bui Huy (according to BKP, CNA, AFP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bat-nghi-pham-trong-vu-am-sat-chinh-tri-gia-campuchia-o-thai-lan-post329640.html