PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet denied on Monday (Jan 20) that his government and father, former leader Hun Sen, were involved in the killing of an opposition politician in downtown Bangkok this month.
Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was shot dead on Jan 7 by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.
Thai national Ekkalak Paenoi was arrested in Cambodia a day later and handed over to Thai authorities.
He confessed to the crime in a livestream video after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership.
Cambodia’s exiled opposition figure Sam Rainsy accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.
Hun Manet “condemned the killing” and denied the government or his father were behind the murder.
“I want to ask: Why would the government be so stupid?” Hun Manet said at an event in western Pursat province.
“If the government orchestrated it … why would we arrest the killer and send him to Thailand for an investigation?”
Hun Manet said his government had been “accused unfairly” and that Phnom Penh also wanted to know the motive for the murder, with authorities ready to cooperate with their Thai counterparts.
He said opposition figures were politicising the killing for their own “political benefits”.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/cambodia-prime-minister-denies-government-behind-killing-ex-lawmaker-bangkok-thailand-4884466
