Bangkok's police chief said initial investigations indicated a gunman was hired to carry out Tuesday's shooting.
Thai police have issued an arrest warrant for a gunman suspected of killing a Cambodian opposition politician in an attack in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Bangkok police chief Siam Boonsom told reporters on Wednesday that initial investigations led them to believe the gunman was hired. to do the shooting. Lim Kimya's killing came as former Cambodian ruler Hun Sen demanded that anyone who opposes the country's government, now led by his son Hun Manet, be branded a “terrorist”.
“We have gathered evidence and we know who committed the crime… We are currently working to arrest him,” Siam told reporters.
The victim may have been known to have killed another person, the police chief added that this person is also wanted.
He declined to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.
“Thai authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Kimya, 74, was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, a prominent opposition party that was dissolved by a court before the 2018 elections due to a coup attempt.
The CNRP said at the time that the alleged crimes were committed by the ruling Cambodian People's Party.
The government is being blamed
Many Cambodian dissidents have fled to Thailand in recent years to escape persecution. Others were arrested and deported.
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years, with activists accusing him of using the law to crack down on opponents of his rule. He stepped down and handed over power to his son Hun Manet in 2023 but is still seen as the dominant force in the kingdom.
Sam Rainsy, an old enemy of Hun Sen, blamed him for the murder.
“Hun Sen's hand is visible after the assassination of Lim Kimya, as it has been behind many political crimes in Cambodia that have gone unpunished,” said Sam Rainsy in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona told the AFP news agency that the killings in Thailand “so the Thai authorities have resolved the matter”.
He denied that the government was involved in the killings, saying that the opposition “always accuses the government of everything without reason and without any evidence”.