Thai arrest mandates for two alleged Cambodian accomplices in the deadly shooting of a former opposition legislator are “useless” and will not lead to extractions unless there is direct cooperation between Cambodian and Thai officials, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
However, any discussion on sending the two suspects to Thailand would be complicated by the Cambodia Constitution, which does not allow the extradition of the Cambodian nationals, said the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Khieu Sophakak, at Radio Free Asia.
“Now that the mandates have been issued, which will implement it?” He asked. “Can Thai mandates be implemented by the Cambodian authorities?”
“The Cambodian mandate orders the Cambodian authorities to arrest them, but the mandates are useless,” he said. “We are impatient to work together to perform various tasks in accordance with the laws of each country, as long as they are authorized.”
Lim Kimya, 74, former MP for the Parliament for the National Raivance Party of the Cambodia opposition and criticism of the government, was shot dead on January 7 just after arriving in Bangkok.
Thai police charged the alleged shooter Aekaluck Paenoi, a former Thai sailor who was arrested on January 8 in the Battambang province of Cambodge and extradited to Thailand January 11.
Thai authorities then issued an arrest warrant against Ratanakrasmey, who they believe they have organized the assassination. He is a former adviser to the president of the Senate Hun Sen, the long -standing sovereign of Cambodia.
They also issued An arrest warrant against Pich KimsrinWho, according to them, followed Lim Kimya on a bus from Cambodia in Bangkok and acted as a so-called “observer” for Aekaluck.
The two men are in Cambodia and Thailand want to extradite them.
Echoing a previous statement by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Khieu Sophakak told RFA that the Cambodian government was not involved in the Lim Kimya shooting.
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On Friday, Radio Free Asia could not reach the Thai embassy in Cambodia.
It is unlikely that Cambodian officials extract Ratanaksmey and Pich Kimsrin in Thailand without coherent pressure from Cambodian citizens, as well as the Thai and French governments, said the expert in legal and democratic governance Vorn Chan Lout.
“We must encourage everyone, France and Thailand,” he told RFA. “And if Thailand is starting to be active and France is starting to be active, I think Cambodia will find it difficult to refuse to cooperate.”
Translated by Yun Carean. Edited by Matt Reed.