On Thursday, Lebanon woke up to the shocking news of the assassination of 58-year-old anti-Hezbollah political activist and commentator Lokman Slim.
This news shook the country and beyond. Lebanese parties across the spectrum condemned the brutal killing and many called for an immediate investigation.
Similarly, foreign embassies in Lebanon, such as those of Switzerland, France, and the United States expressed their grief over the death of the political activist, some even condemned it.
The French ambassador Anne Grillo expressed immense sadness and gave her condolences to Slim’s family and loved ones.
After giving its condolences, the Swiss embassy mourned Slim, whose non-governmental organization, UMAM Documentation & Research, is a long-time partner of Switzerland.
U.S. ambassador Dorothy Shea gave her own extensive remarks about the assassination she called “barbaric.”
She deemed it a “cowardly attack on the principles of democracy, freedom of expression, and civic participation” and “an attack on Lebanon itself.”
She condemned the practice of intimidation as a tool of oppression and silencing political opponents and mirrored the calls for an urgent and quick investigation into the crime and other recent killings.
“In a country that so desperately needs to recover from the multiple crises it faces, political assassinations send exactly the wrong signal to the world about what Lebanon stands for,” she said.
“May the rule of law and accountability, the very principles for which Lokman Slim was fighting, prevail,” concluded Shea.
Jan Kubis, the former U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, was also among the first to condemn the assassination.
“This investigation must not follow the pattern of the Beirut port blast investigation that 6 months on remains inconclusive and without accountability. People must know the truth,” Kubis stressed.
Granted, it is worth noting that it’s been exactly 6 months since the Beirut Port explosion, and justice has yet to be served.
Over 200 red hearts have been placed in various cities around the world to remember the Beirut Blast victims and remind the Lebanese state to hold accountable the criminals of the mass killing.
