“BRUTAL ACT”
Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s long-time rival, accused the former Cambodian leader of being behind the killing.
“Hun Sen’s hand can be seen behind the assassination of Lim Kimya, just as it has been behind the countless political crimes in Cambodia that have always gone unpunished,” Sam Rainsy said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
He alleged “the motive is the same, as is the modus operandi”.
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona told AFP the killing was in Thailand “so Thai authorities will handle the case”.
He denied the government was involved with the killing, saying opposition figures “always accuse the government of everything groundlessly and without any evidence”.
Lim Kimya became an opposition member of Cambodia’s parliament following an election in 2013 in which Hun Sen’s ruling party almost lost to its then-rival, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The CNRP, which was founded in 2012 by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha and was once considered the sole viable opponent to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), was dissolved by court order in 2017.
Scores of opposition politicians and MPs, including Lim Kimya, were banned from political activities following the party’s dissolution.
The now-dissolved CNRP said in a statement it was shocked by “the heinous and inhumane” killing of Lim Kimya.
It condemned “the brutal act that badly threatens political freedom”.
Elaine Pearson, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, urged Thailand to carry out a “thorough independent investigation” into the killing.
“What has happened in the last 24 hours really sends a chill down the spine for any Cambodian political activists that Bangkok is not a safe place,” she told AFP.
The French embassies in Bangkok and Phnom Penh have so far declined to comment on the killing.
Source: CNA
