This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
In a brazen harm that is sure to sputter fear among Cambodians and another dissidents living in Thailand, Thai authorities arrested the suspect in the shooting of a previous opposition senator who was shot down on a Bangkok street on Wednesday.
A gunman killed dead Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, at around 4 p. m. on Tuesday on a busy road near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara church in Bangkok’s old quarter. He died at the picture.
Thai authorities said they couldn’t find a reason for the killing, despite earlier identifying the suspect and issuing a warrant for his arrest.
Thai police said in a speech that the suspect had crossed into Cambodia from Bangkok and had fled, where he was detained on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the authorities, Cambodian police “investigated and arrested the suspect in Battambang province” in response to teamwork requests and information from Thai police, adding that he had been taken to Battambang town’s police headquarters for questioning.
After Cambodia finishes its investigation, the suspect may be deported to Thailand at Thai’s ask.
Lim Kimya, who had two French-Cambodian membership, had arrived in Thailand by vehicle from Cambodia’s Siem Reap territory, with his European woman and Thai brother, shortly before he was killed, media reported.
A large man removed his motorcycle helmet before crossing the street and approaching Lim Kimya, according to surveillance film that was uploaded to Facebook . On the film, three shots may get heard. Finally the man hopped up on his motorcycle and left.
Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police director, Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, said earlier the believe, who he identified as Aekaluck Paenoi, was a former army officer who worked as a motorcycle taxi drivers.
While a prominent rights activist claimed that Lim Kimya’s shooting resembled a political assassination, Siam cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
Rumors about international political goals are likely premature. It could be a personal conflict. All answers will be known once we apprehend the suspect”, Siam said.
Cambodia’s authoritarian government has successfully eradicated all forms of opposition for decades. It has been accused of numerous killings over the years by critics and human rights organizations, which it has refuted.
‘ Protect peace ‘
Lim Kimya told the French news agency AFP in 2017 that , he would “never give up politics”  , and planned to stay in Cambodia despite an order from the Supreme Court banning the CNRP.
Sam Rainsy, a veteran opposition leader, founded the CNRP in 2012 as the party’s most recent incarnation of his efforts to form a party to challenge HunSen’s long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, in the late 1990s.
Following accusations that the CNRP had plotted to overthrow the government, the court ruled against the organization. Many of its top leaders, including Sam Rainsy, left the nation following the ruling.
” With dual French-Cambodian citizenship, Lim Kimya could have easily joined the three dozen MPs who have fled abroad”, AFP wrote in 2017. ” Yet Lim Kimya refuses to quit”.
The former prime minister and veteran strongman Hun Sen urged the government to pass a law allowing prosecutors to indict dissidents for terrorism on Tuesday.
At a ceremony held to mark the 46th anniversary of the day the Khmer Rouge regime was expelled from power by Vietnamese invaders, he said,” It is time to make a law that will define any person or group that has plans or actions to create an anti-extremist movement, cause chaos and insecurity in society, cause conflict with others, and attempt to overthrow the government as terrorists who must be brought to justice to protect peace.”
In June, Hun Sen , encouraged CPP supporters to” smash” and “destroy”  , opposition political activists in audio comments that were purportedly recorded at a party meeting and circulated on social media.
With no real opposition allowed, the CPP has dominated politics since Vietnam’s occupation in the 1980s, and has easily won general elections over the decades.
After 38 years in power, Hun Sen resigned as prime minister in 2023 to make way for his son, Hun Manet, who has since shown little interest in changing his father’s heavy-handed approach. Cambodians believe that Hun Sen still has the power to occupy both the CPP and the Senate.
‘ Intimidated, harassed’
Dozens of pro-democracy , Cambodian activists have fled to Thailand to seek asylum , over the years as the CPP has used intimidation and the courts to neutralize critics. But rights groups and Cambodian exiles say Cambodian authorities have  , pursued , critics into Thailand.
In a statement regarding Lim Kimya’s death, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said:” The Cambodian government has intimidated, surveilled, and harassed former CNRP members, including those who live in exile in neighboring Thailand. Thailand’s authorities should conduct an in-depth and thorough investigation and prosecute those responsible.
Tuesday’s shooting would have a “direct impact” in intimidating hundreds of Cambodian opposition figures, NGO activists and human rights defenders who have fled to Thailand to escape repression, said Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.
He said in a statement that the brutal shooting of a former CNRP MP on the streets of Bangkok resembled a political assassination and appears to be a significant increase in the use of transnational repression there.
Robertson urged Thai authorities to launch a thorough investigation, adding that France should “aggressively pursue justice” for Lim Kimya,” no matter where the path leads.”
The Thai police and politicians should recognize that it is possible to simply sweep this brutal murder untold, he said.
International human rights organizations have condemned Thailand for aiding neighbors Vietnam and Cambodia in carrying out what they claim is unlawful human rights violations, making it more dangerous for people fleeing persecution there.
Human Rights Watch has criticized what it has called a” swap mart” of transnational repression, where foreign dissidents in Thailand are essentially traded for Thai government employees who reside abroad.
Prime Minister Hun Manet met the then-Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, last February , in Bangkok to discuss a crackdown , on what they called “interference” in Cambodian politics by Thai-based Cambodian activists.
A Thai senator, Angkhana Neelapaijit, told media the assassination of Lim Kimya was unacceptable.
” The prime minister must not ignore the case”, he said. ” This signals that Bangkok is no longer safe, especially for political dissidents”.
