Cambodian gov’t spokesman calls arrest warrants in Bangkok shooting ‘useless’

Extradition of 2 suspects would need ‘cooperation’ between Thai and Cambodian authorities, spokesman says.

By RFA Khmer
2025.02.28

 

A funeral service for former Cambodian opposition lawmaker Lim Kimya is held at a Cambodian Buddhist pagoda near Paris, Jan. 16, 2025 (RFA)

 

Thai arrest warrants for two suspected Cambodian accomplices in the fatal shooting of a former opposition lawmaker are “useless” and won’t result in extraditions unless there is direct cooperation between Cambodian and Thai officials, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

However, any discussion of sending the two suspects to Thailand would be complicated by Cambodia’s Constitution, which doesn’t allow for the extradition of Cambodian nationals, Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak told Radio Free Asia.

“Now that the warrants have been issued, who will implement it?” he asked. “Can the Thai warrants be implemented by the Cambodian authorities?”

“The Cambodian warrant orders the Cambodian authorities to arrest them, but the warrants are useless,” he said. “We look forward to working together to carry out various tasks in accordance with the laws of each country, as long as they are permitted.”

Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of parliament for the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and a government critic, was gunned down on Jan. 7 just after arriving in Bangkok.

Thai police have charged the suspected gunman Aekaluck Paenoi, a former Thai Marine who was arrested on Jan. 8 in Cambodia’s Battambang province and extradited to Thailand on Jan. 11.

Thai authorities later issued an arrest warrant for Ly Ratanakrasmey, who they believe masterminded the assassination. He is a former adviser to Senate President Hun Sen, the longtime ruler of Cambodia.

They have also issued an arrest warrant for Pich Kimsrin, who they said followed Lim Kimya on a bus from Cambodia to Bangkok and acted as a so-called “spotter” for Aekaluck.

Both men are in Cambodia and Thailand wants to extradite them.

Echoing a previous statement by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Khieu Sopheak told RFA that the Cambodian government was not involved in the shooting of Lim Kimya.

Radio Free Asia couldn’t immediately reach the Thai Embassy in Cambodia for comment on Friday.

It’s unlikely that Cambodian officials will extradite Ly Ratanaksmey and Pich Kimsrin to Thailand without consistent pressure from Cambodian citizens, as well as the Thai and French governments, said legal and democratic governance expert Vorn Chan Lout.

“We need to encourage everyone, both France and Thailand,” he told RFA. “And if Thailand starts to be active and France starts to be active, I think Cambodia will find it difficult to refuse to cooperate.”

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.