A famous Lebanese writer and a strong opponent of Hezbollah was found dead in his car in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning, hours after he went missing while driving to Beirut.
Police said Lokman Slim, 59, a well-known political reporter, was shot in the head. He was a staunch critic of the militant group and the political powerhouse that had consistently followed suit.
Jawad Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, tweeted minutes after his death: “The loss of some people is indeed an unplanned gain for #notsorry.” He later deleted the message and said he had not been referring to a slender.
Another desperate murder of voice in Lebanon, has again provoked anger towards a political class that is either powerless, or unwilling, to hold murderers to account. In recent decades, assassination has been consistently used as a political weapon, with almost all of them unsolved and the impatience around them becoming a reality of Lebanese life.
The killing of Lebanese public intellectuals has been rare, however, with the narrow assassination of the first of its kind since the assassination of history professor and journalist Samir Kassir 16 years ago.
“He was liked, he was humble and people really liked him,” said Rasha Slim’s slim sister. “His opponents have lost a noble fighter who lived among them, and debated them with information, purpose, and love. This is a loss for the whole of Lebanon. Murder is an anonymous act, it exemplifies the work of murdering those who disagree with us. Their only language is murder; we know who is in charge of the area where my brother was killed. “
In the past few months, Slim had told friends and visitors to his home and studio in the Beirut suburban area that he had been threatened by his enemies. His office was located in the heart of Hezbollah’s stronghold in Dahiyeh, from which he regularly spoke out against the group and its positions. Hezbollah named him Shia Muslim who had turned against the group. Two years ago, Hassan Nasrallah described Slim as the “Shiite of the embassies”, citing his close ties to foreign diplomas.
Narrow had also played a prominent role in the anti-government demonstrations that swept Lebanon since October 2019, setting up a tent in Beirut’s downtown area, in which he fought against the country’s leadership and system of government. and claiming neutrality with neighboring Israel, with whom Lebanon is technically living at war.
He kept a non-profit organization, Umam, which was a cultural exhibition and historical archive of what became extinct during the Lebanese civil war. He also had a civil society, called Hayya Bina, and made several films with his wife, Monika Borgmann.
As a result of a narrow death some Lebanese leaders warned of another descent into crime, while the country was facing a recession, a political recession and after the devastating explosion that brought port Beirut down in August last year.
Six months after the explosion, investigations have stalled, with large parts of the unified political establishment opposed to the investigation and uncomfortable with ongoing scrutiny. “If they want to talk about bias, start with that embarrassment,” said Joseph Hammad, a delivery driver. “They have locked up port guards and protected the politicians he caused.”
Aya Majzoub, a Lebanese researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Lebanese authorities have publicly promised that the investigation into the explosion that killed more than 200 people and destroyed half the city five days, but six months later, the public is still waiting for answers.
“Furthermore, it appears that the court handling the case has run hard over the rights of defendants’ due process, indicating that it is unable or unwilling to deliver justice.”