A suspected hit man, accused of murdering a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in a brazen public attack in Bangkok, was handed over to Thailand authorities on Saturday.
He was arrested in Cambodia after crossing the border.
Thai national Ekkalak Paenoi, 41, faces charges including premeditated murder in the Tuesday shooting of 74 year old former Cambodian lawmaker Lim Kimya, in Bangkok.
Suspect Confesses
A suspected on Saturday confessed to killing the former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok in a livestream video.
“I confess that I did wrong,” Ekkalak Paenoi told police and media, after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorized gun ownership.
“If I dared to do it, I dare to admit to it,” the suspect added.
“The suspect confessed to the crime and to being the person in the arrest warrant,” Somprasong Yentuam, assistant national police chief, told reporters. ”
Ekkalak, a motorcycle taxi driver who police officers told Reuters was a former marine, was taken to Bangkok after Thai police coordinated with Cambodian authorities.
Issuance Of Warrant
A Thai court issued the warrant and he was arrested on Wednesday.
Lim Kimya, a Cambodian and French citizen, was killed by a gunman firing three shots, hours after arriving from Cambodia with his wife and brother and travelling to Bangkok by bus, police have said.
Cambodian Opposition Group
He was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, a popular opposition group that was dissolved by a court over an alleged treason plot ahead of a 2018 election.
The party dismissed the alleged plot as a fabrication.
Crackdown On Opponents
Cambodia’s government, led by the Cambodian People’s Party for more than four decades, has conducted a ruthless, years-long crackdown on its opponents.
Scores of politicians and activists got prison terms, many in absentia, and hundreds more fled into exile.
It has denied persecuting the opposition.
Lim Kimya was not a prominent member of the opposition movement.
(With inputs from Reuters)
