Red notice sought for mastermind behind Cambodian ex-MP’s assassination
Police believe suspect Somwang was in Bangkok when the crime took place
Thai police are seeking a red notice alert from Interpol for the alleged mastermind behind the assassination of former Cambodian MP Lim Kimya in Thailand last Tuesday.
A red notice is an Interpol notice issued to seek the location and arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to their extradition.
The former opposition MP from the Cambodia National Rescue Party was allegedly shot dead on January 7 in Bangkok by former Thai marine Ekkaluck Paenoi, 41, who is now in police custody.
Chakit Buaplee, 47, who reportedly drove Ekkaluck across the Thai-Cambodian border was apprehended in Chonburi province on Monday (January 13).
After interviewing the suspects and reviewing evidence, investigators named the mastermind behind the assassination as Ly Ratanakraksmey, a 43-year-old Cambodian national known in Thailand as Somwang Bamroongkit.
An arrest warrant for Somwang was issued by a Thai court on Tuesday evening. According to the warrant, he faces charges of commissioning premeditated murder, commissioning the carrying of a firearm in public without justifiable cause, and commissioning the unlawful discharge of a firearm in a public area.
An arrest warrant was also issued for Pich Kimsaren, who was identified from CCTV footage as having accompanied the victim and allegedly pinpointed the target.
According to the police, Ekkaluck admitted that the mastermind, whom he refused to name, was his benefactor, adding that this person would have him killed if he refused to carry out the hit on the victim.
Police believe that Somwang was in Bangkok when the assassination took place, and had left Thailand on January 8, probably returning to Cambodia.
