A Thai court issued an arrest warrant for an adviser to the Cambodian strongman Hun Sen on Wednesday, charging him with hiring others to commit “premeditated murder” in the brazen killing of a former Cambodian opposition politician in Bangkok last week.
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The warrant was the strongest indication so far that Lim Kimya, who was gunned down on a busy street, was the victim of a political assassination. He was a former legislator with the Cambodia National Rescue Party, an opposition party that was dissolved under pressure from Mr. Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia as prime minister for nearly four decades. Mr. Hun Sen handed that job to his son Hun Manet in 2023 but remains the leader of his political party and the country’s senate.
The person named in the arrest warrant is Somwang Bamrungkit, 42, a dual Thai-Cambodian national who is known in Cambodia as Ly Rotanakraksmey. Thai prosecutors brought three charges against him, including one involving carrying firearms and firing guns. His current location remains unclear.
In full: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/world/asia/cambodia-thailand-adviser-hun-sen.html
