On the anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, the former prime minister – who handed the reins of government to his son Hun Manet – calls for new special rules against those who “undermine the country’s stability”. In those same hours, a former deputy of the opposition party, forced to dissolve, was murdered in a mysterious ambush in the Thai capital, shortly after crossing the border by bus.
Phnom Penh () – On January 7 – on the occasion of the anniversary of the end of the regime imposed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 with deaths from torture, mass executions, forced labor and hunger for two million Cambodians – the former Prime Minister Hun Sen (who was a young exponent of that regime), has called for a new law to fight against the “terrorists” who threaten the stability of the country and the power of his son, Hun Manet, who has succeeded him as head of the government in 2023.
The anniversary, celebrated by Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party as the “second birth” of the Khmer nation and “victory day” against the bloody regime led by Pol Pot, was an opportunity to call on authorities to develop and implement a new law that “defines as a terrorist who must be brought to justice any person or group that plans or conspires to create an extremist movement with the aim of causing chaos and insecurity in society, provoking conflicts with other States or trying to subvert the legitimate government.”
Ad hoc legislation and a non-autonomous judiciary is what has allowed Hun Sen to remain in power almost uninterruptedly since the fall of Pol Pot, for a decade with the help of the Vietnamese and resorting to brutal repressive methods, condemned internationally, that allowed him to silence the opposition, forced in part into exile.
A fate that was denied on Tuesday to Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of Parliament for the dissolved National Party for the Salvation of Cambodia, who was shot dead three times in the Thai capital, Bangkok, a few hours after crossing the border by bus with his wife and an uncle.
Today the court in charge of the case issued an arrest warrant for the alleged murderer, a motorcycle taxi driver. And if the Phnom Penh government spokesman anticipated criticism by highlighting that “extremist” elements of the opposition often point the finger at the Cambodian authorities when similar cases occur, the Asian headquarters of the organization Human Rights Watch has called for investigations. swift and thorough measures to find and prosecute those responsible, recalling that the Cambodian government has often intimidated, controlled and persecuted former members of the main opposition party dissolved on charges of treason, including those living in neighboring Thailand.
Lim Kimya, who had dual French and Cambodian citizenship, had never stood out among the opponents of Hun Sen or his son, although he did not hide his positions and had even been active in political activism. Therefore, there are still doubts about the motives for his murder, the resolution of which is in the hands of the Thai authorities.
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