A Thai Criminal Court has convicted a former Thai marine who shot and killed Cambodian opposition politician Lim Kimya and sentenced him to life in prison. The assassination was seen as politically motivated and made clear that Thailand is no safe haven for political dissidents.

Ekalak Paenoi was charged with premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty. However, because he pleaded guilty during interrogation, the Court commuted the sentence to life in prison.

He was also ordered to pay approximately 1,700,000 baht in compensation to Lim Kimya’s family. A lawyer for the victim’s widow, Nadthasiri Bergman, added that the widow still questions how many perpetrators were involved in the assassination. She wants the authorities to track the remaining suspects down and bring them to justice. Ekalak reportedly told Thai police that he was hired to commit the murder and video footage of the crime scene appears to show a ‘spotter’ identifying the victim for the murdered, but no accomplices have been identified or charged.

Ekalak was arrested on 8 January in Battambang, Cambodia and extradited back to Thailand by the Cambodian authorities.

The shooting took place on 7 January in broad daylight near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon District. CCTV footage shows the gunman arriving at the scene on a motorcycle. He parked the motorcycle, crossed the road to shoot Lim Kimya three times and fled. On 8 January, police identified 41-year-old Ekalak Paenoi , a former Royal Thai Navy marine, as the suspect

The shooting occurred on the same day that Cambodian Senate President and former Prime Minister Hun Sen called for his government to pass a law classifying certain dissident actions as terrorism.

Lim Kimya was formerly an opposition MP with the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who held dual Cambodian-French citizenship. Lim had recently arrived in Bangkok by bus from Siem Reap, Cambodia, along with his wife and other relatives. He was elected in the 2013 general election in which the ruling party under Hun Sen almost lost to its then rival, the CNRP.

In 2017, the CNRP was dissolved by the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was plotting to overthrow the government. The party’s President Kem Sokha was arrested and most of its senior leaders fled into exile. Dozens of opposition politicians and MPs, including Lim Kimya, were banned from political activities. There were also reports that the Cambodian government carried out intimidation, surveillance and harassment of former CNRP members including those living in Thailand.

Lim Kimya’s assassination exemplifies the alleged collusion of Southeast Asian governments in cross-border suppression of political dissidents.