A Thai man accused of murdering a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok said he committed the crime to repay someone who had helped him during a difficult time in his life, police told AFP.

Ekkalak Paenoi confessed to the crime on Saturday in a live video after being charged with premeditated murder and illegal possession of a weapon. On Monday, a Thai court granted 12 days of detention for Ekkalak.

Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker from the disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was shot by a motorcyclist on Tuesday as he and his French wife arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia.

Cambodia’s opposition accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, although a government spokesman denied official involvement.

Ekkalak — who Thai media say is a former marine — was arrested in Cambodia on Wednesday, before being extradited to Thailand on Saturday.

“The shooter said he took this job to repay a debt to someone who helped him through a difficult period after he was discharged from the navy,” said Attaporn Wongsiripreeda, a senior Bangkok police official.

Some Thai media reported that he was paid 60,000 baht ($1,700), but Attaporn told a local broadcaster that Ekkalak claimed he had not received the payment.

Attaporn declined to elaborate when asked by AFP.

Another senior police official said on Saturday that an arrest warrant had also been issued for a Cambodian accomplice.

A number of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to escape alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.

Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades, and rights groups have accused him of using the legal system to crush opposition to his rule.

He resigned and handed over power to his son Hun Manet in 2023, but is still considered the main force in the kingdom.

On Tuesday, Hun Sen called for a new law that would label anyone who tries to topple Hun Manet’s government as “terrorists.”

The Cambodia National Rescue Party said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked and horrified by the brutal and inhumane assassination” and called on Thai authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party was expected to mount a strong challenge to former Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party in the 2018 general election. But as part of a sweeping crackdown on the opposition ahead of the election, the party was dissolved by the high court, and the ruling party subsequently won all seats in the National Assembly. assembly.

Recent posts on Lim Kimye’s Facebook page have been critical of the government, including how it was unnecessarily spending government money on events that did not benefit the Cambodian people.

Under Hun Sen, who has been in power for nearly four decades, Cambodia has been widely criticized for human rights abuses that have included a crackdown on freedom of speech and association. He was succeeded in August 2023 by his American-educated son Hun Manet, but there were few signs of political liberalization.

Phil Robertson, director of Asian Human Rights and Labor Advocates, said the shooting “has all the hallmarks of a political assassination and appears to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok” to intimidate opposition to the ruling government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.