Trial Begins in Killing of Former Cambodian Lawmaker

The widow of Lim Kimya says she wants to know why her husband was killed.

By RFA staff

A trial began Tuesday for a man alleged to have shot and killed Cambodian opposition politician Lim Kimya during a brazen daytime attack in the Thai capital earlier this year. — A funeral service for former Cambodian opposition lawmaker Lim Kimya is held at a Cambodian Buddhist pagoda near Paris, Jan. 16, 2025 Credit:RFA

BANGKOK – A trial began Tuesday for a man alleged to have shot and killed Cambodian opposition politician Lim Kimya during a brazen daytime attack in the Thai capital earlier this year.

Lim Kimya’s widow, Lim Ani, told reporters outside the courthouse that she wanted to know why her husband was murdered.

“I want to know the story behind the case. Who the masterminds were. I believe the judicial system here could help,” she said through a translator.

“His death has turned everything upside down in my daily life,” she said.

Lim Kimya,74, a former legislator and member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party as well as an outspoken critic of veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen, was shot in the afternoon of Jan. 7 on a busy street in Bangkok’s old quarter. He died at the scene.

Authorities arrested Aekaluck Paenoi, a former Thai marine who worked as a motorcycle taxi driver, in Cambodia’s Battabang province the following day. He was extradited to Thailand three days later and charged with premeditated murder. He later confessed to the crime.

One of Lim Ani’s lawyers, Nadthasiri Bergman, said outside the courthouse Tuesday that she believed the alleged gunman would be convicted because he had already confessed. “But our concern is that we might not get to the bottom of why the assassination happened, and we hope to find that answer today during the witness examination.”

In February, Lim Ani told RFA Khmer that her husband’s killing was “definitely political.”

“He exposed the injustices that happened in Cambodia,” she said.

In February, Thai officials issued arrest warrants for two suspected Cambodian accomplices in the shooting. A Ministry of Interior spokesman told RFA Khmer that the Cambodian constitution doesn’t allow for the extradition of Cambodian nationals.

Cambodian opposition figures have accused Hun Sen of ordering the shooting. Cambodian leader Hun Manet has denied that his government or Hun Sen, his father, were involved in the killing. Other officials have also denied allegations of involvement.

The trial is expected to conclude in March.

Includes reporting by Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok and Agence France-Presse.