A former Cambodian opposition MP and French citizen was shot useless by a gunman on a motorbike in Bangkok on Tuesday, in accordance with Thai media.
“Lim Kimya… died on the scene. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Bureau have launched a manhunt for the murderer,” the Bangkok Submit reported, including that the deceased was a twin Cambodian-French nationwide.
Thai police confirmed the dying of a Cambodian man with out figuring out him as Lim Kimya, telling Agence France-Presse: “we’re at present investigating the motives and can present extra data at a later time”.
A number of Thai media shops reported {that a} gunman on a motorbike opened hearth on Lim Kimya as he arrived within the Thai capital from the Cambodian metropolis of Siem Reap by bus, accompanied by his French spouse and a Cambodian uncle.
An AFP photojournalist noticed blood on the scene close to Bangkok’s standard Khao San Highway space.
“The French authorities should aggressively pursue justice for his or her citizen, Lim Kimya, and depart no stone unturned in urgent the Thai authorities to successfully and totally examine this assassination, regardless of the place the trail leads,” mentioned Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights Labour Advocates.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian authorities didn’t instantly reply to request for remark from the Guardian.
Lim Kimya, 74, was elected as an opposition member of Cambodia’s parliament after a common ballot in 2013 during which the ruling get together underneath former chief Hun Sen nearly misplaced to its then-rival, the Cambodia Nationwide Rescue Get together (CNRP).
The CNRP, which was based in 2012 by opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha and as soon as thought-about the only viable opponent to the ruling Cambodian Individuals’s Get together (CPP), was dissolved by courtroom order in 2017.
Scores of opposition politicians and MPs, together with Lim Kimya, had been banned from political actions after the get together’s dissolution.
Rights teams have accused Hun Sen – who dominated Cambodia for practically 4 many years earlier than stepping down in 2023 and handing energy to his eldest son, Hun Manet – of utilizing the authorized system to crush any opposition to his rule.
Scores of opposition politicians and activists had been convicted and jailed throughout his time in energy, with challengers compelled to flee and freedom of expression stifled.
The Cambodian authorities has at all times denied that prices in opposition to political and environmental activists have been politically motivated.
Kem Sokha was arrested and was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years in jail for treason – a cost he has repeatedly denied – and was instantly positioned underneath home arrest.
Sam Rainsy lives in exile in France.
Regardless of holding French citizenship, Lim Kimya didn’t be part of the handfuls of lawmakers who fled overseas after Kem Sokha was detained.
Lim Kimya informed AFP on the time in Phnom Penh: “I’ll by no means surrender politics”.
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