A prominent Lebanese writer and strict opponent of Hezbollah was found dead in his car in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning, hours after he went missing while driving to Beirut.
According to police, Lokman Slim, 59, a well-known political commentator, was shot in the head. He was an outspoken critic of the militant group and political power station that regularly drew the anger of his followers.
Jawad Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, tweeted minutes after his death was confirmed: “The loss of some people is in fact an unplanned gain #notsorry.” He later deleted the message, claiming he did not refer to Slim.
The assassination of another critical voice in Lebanon has once again sparked outrage against a political class that is powerless or unwilling to hold assassins accountable. In recent decades, assassinations have been frequently used as political weapons, with almost all yet to be solved and the impunity around them becoming a fact of Lebanese life.
Murders of Lebanese public intellectuals were relatively rare, but the assassination of Slim was the first of its kind since the murder of professor and journalist Samir Kassir, 16 years ago.
“He was loved, he was humble and people loved him,” said Slim’s sister, Rasha Slim. “His opponents lost a noble warrior who lived among them and debated it with intelligence, reason and love. This is a loss for the whole of Lebanon. Murder is an unworthy act; it gives an example of the work that we kill those who do not agree with us. Murder is their only language; we know who’s in charge of the area where my brother was killed. ”
Slim has told friends and visitors to his home and studio in the southern suburbs of Beirut in recent months that his enemies have threatened him. His office was in the heart of the Hezbollah fortress Dahiyeh, from where he regularly spoke against the group and its positions. Hezbollah described him as a Shiite Muslim who turned against the group. Two years ago, Hassan described Nasrallah Slim as a “shot of the embassies”, referring to his close contact with foreign diplomats.
Slim also took a prominent part in the protests against the government that erupted over Lebanon from October 2019 and pitched a tent in downtown Beirut, in which he fought against the country’s leadership and system of government and neutrality towards its neighbors. Israel, with whom Lebanon is technically at war.
He maintained a non-profit organization, Umam, which acted as a cultural exhibition and a historical archive of the disappearance during the Lebanese civil war. He also had a civic group called Hayya Bina, and made several films with his wife, Monika Borgmann.
Slim’s death has led some Lebanese leaders to warn of a further decline in lawlessness as the country struggles with a waning economic collapse, political deadlock and the aftermath of the devastating explosion that ravaged the port of Beirut last August has.
Six months after the explosion, investigations came to a halt, with large sections of the political institution united in opposition to the investigation and uncomfortable with ongoing investigations. “If they want to talk about impunity, then start with the shame,” said Joseph Hammad, a delivery manager. “They locked up port guards and protected the politicians who caused it.”
Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Lebanese authorities have publicly promised that the investigation into the blast that killed more than 200 people and destroyed half the city will take five days, but six. months later, the public is still waiting for answers.
“In addition, it appears that the court handling the case has lashed out at the proper legal rights of detained accused, which indicates that he is unable or unwilling to prosecute.”