Thai killer of Cambodia politician Lim Kimya sentenced to life in prison

The Thai court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for a prominent opposition politician in Bangkok.

In January, hours after Lim Kimia arrived in the Thai capital with his wife, he was shot in public places by Icalac Benny. Then Icalac fled to Cambodia, where he was arrested and deported.

On Friday, the court said that Icalac had been delivered to the death penalty at first, but this was heated for life imprisonment for killing.

The reason for the killing of Lim Kimia is still unclear Although he was widely suspected that he was a political assassination.

Politicians and opposition activists are often imprisoned in Cambodia, where the authorities can tolerate few political opposition.

Lim Kimia, who had a dual and French nationality, was a former parliamentarian of the Cambodia’s main opposition party, the National Salvation Party in CENRP.

CNRP approached the defeat of the long party of former leader Hun Sen in 2013.

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

Prime Minister Hun Manit – who succeeded his father Hun Sen in 2023 – denied that the government was involved in the killing of Lim.

The January security camera shots, Escalac, showed his motorcycle, removing his helmet and walking quietly across the road before the shots came out.

Ekkalak was also convicted of carrying and using a firearm, and ordered to pay about $ 55,000 (40,800 pounds) to the Lim Kimia family.

The court rejected a charge against another defender – a Thai citizen accused of leading ICALAC to the Cambodian border after the shooting – on the basis that he was just a driver who was not known about the killing.

Lim Kimia’s widow’s lawyer told the news agency, a franc Franci, that she was “probably satisfied” about Friday’s ruling, although she “is still wondering about the crime request.”

“She wants the authorities to reach below.”

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

Human rights groups believe that there is an unwritten agreement between the four countries adjacent to allowing the security forces to each other to follow up on the dissidents on the border.