Jornal Do Brasilia - Trial opens over Bangkok murder of French-Cambodian ex-MP

French national 73-year-old Lim Kimya, a former opposition lawmaker in Cambodia, was shot dead on January 7 by a motorcyclist as the ex-MP arrived in the Thai capital.

A Thai citizen, Ekkalak Paenoi, was arrested in neighbouring Cambodia a day later and handed over to Thai authorities. He now faces a premeditated murder charge.

Ekkalak confessed to the killing in a livestream video, but Lim Kimya's widow, Anne-Marie Lim, called on Tuesday for a full accounting of why her husband was murdered.

"I want to know the reason for this crime and who ordered it. That's what I want to know most of all," she told AFP outside the court in Bangkok, carrying a portrait of her slain husband.

Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country's powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.

Cambodia's current prime minister, Hun Manet, has denied his government or his father Hun Sen's involvement.

The former premier led Cambodia for nearly four decades until 2023, and Western nations and rights groups have long accused his government of using the legal system to crush the opposition.

Flanked by her legal team on Tuesday, Anne-Marie Lim said she wanted justice for her husband, who she called a "hero".

"He defended the Cambodian people, and he only thought about doing good and improving life in Cambodia," she said. "That's why he was in opposition to the government."

Also on trial is Thai national Chakrit Buakhil, who is believed to be the man who drove Ekkalak to the Cambodian border after the shooting, and was charged for assisting others in their escape, Lim's lawyer told AFP.

Some Thai media reports said the alleged shooter was paid 60,000 baht ($1,800) for the killing but police say he has claimed he did not receive payment and took the job "to pay a debt of gratitude".

- Cambodian suspects -

Lim Kimya was an MP in Cambodia from 2013 to 2017, when his party, the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved by the country's Supreme Court.

He then withdrew from politics and returned to France, according to a statement from his wife's lawyers.

Thai police said in January that they were seeking to arrest a Cambodian national believed to be the mastermind behind Lim Kimya's killing.

They identified two Cambodian suspects: Ly Ratanakrasksmey, accused of having recruited the gunman, and Pich Kimsrin, the alleged lookout who local media has reported was on the bus alongside the victim and his wife.

"We have learned that there are two (Cambodians), one of whom organised this crime," Anne-Marie Lim said before entering the court on Tuesday.

She added she feared the alleged mastermind may never be held accountable accountable -- even though his name is known and he is believed to be in Cambodia.

Nadthasiri Bergman, one of her lawyers in Thailand, told AFP that since the gunman had confessed, she believed he would be convicted.

"But our concern is that we might not get to the bottom of why the assassination happened, and we hope to find that answer today during the witness examination," Bergman said.

The trial is expected to conclude in March.

P. Gomes--JDB