A Bangkok court yesterday sentenced a Thai man to life imprisonment for shooting dead a Cambodian political figure in the city. The killing took place in January this year, but a motive was not disclosed.
Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported yesterday that the victim, Lim Kimya, was a former lawmaker of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party. He was fatally shot near Bangkok’s Khao San Road in broad daylight on January 7.
The Thai gunman, centre, wearing a white mask, is escorted to court by police.
The gunman fled the scene and crossed into Cambodia. He was subsequently identified as Ekkalak Pheanoi, arrested in Cambodia and returned to Thailand, where he confessed. At trial, Ekkalak said he had been hired to carry out the shooting, but responsibility for commissioning the killing was not established during the proceedings.
The Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced Ekkalak to death but immediately reduced the sentence to life imprisonment because he confessed and cooperated with the investigation.
Security-camera footage showed the gunman arriving by motorcycle. Three shots could be heard as the victim fell, before the attacker left. His face was uncovered as he rode away.
In the months that followed, Thai police also issued arrest warrants for two Cambodian men, one suspected of hiring Ekkalak and another suspected of helping identify Lim Kimya to the gunman. The report said the two were believed to have fled to Cambodia and remained at large.
Ekkalak was convicted on all charges, including premeditated murder and offences relating to carrying and using weapons. The court also ordered him to pay the victim’s family 1.7 million baht, approximately US$55,100, in compensation.
Natthasiri Bergman, the lawyer representing Lim Kimya’s wife, said her client might appeal for higher compensation. She urged police to intensify efforts to bring the two other suspects to justice.
Also yesterday, the court acquitted another Thai man, identified in the report as 查克里特·布阿克里, who was tried alongside Ekkalak. He had been accused of driving Ekkalak towards the Cambodian border after the shooting, but the court found that he was a hired driver unconnected to the murder.
Special correspondent 斯蒂芬, reporting from Tokyo
