On February 4, 2021, Lebanon lost one of its greatest intellectuals: Lokman Slim, 58, was found dead in the early morning, shot dead in his car. This director, publisher and Shiite political activist, known for his fierce opposition to Hezbollah, accused the party of taking Lebanon hostage on behalf of Iran. RFI met director Monika Borgmann, widow of Lokman Slim.
With our correspondent in Beirut, Noah Pignede
In her villa in the southern suburbs, seat of the association she had founded with her husband, Monika Borgmann receives us in the middle of books and archives. Thousands of documents on Lebanese history, especially that of the war. A story in which the assassination of Lokman Slim fits fully according to his wife.
” The fight against the culture of impunity has always been at the center of our work. For a long time, we have been documenting political assassinations in Lebanon. But from now on, I am no longer in the role of the analyst. I am at the heart of the battle, directly concerned. The culture of impunity must come to an end, by bringing justice to Lokman, justice to the victims of the port explosion, justice for all the families of those murdered, justice for Lebanon. »
One after his assassination, the investigation is still ongoing, no one has been arrested. But Monika Borgmann refuses to give up hope.
” Lokman fought with words, ideas, and nothing else. Who could have felt threatened by these ideas, to the point of deciding to kill him ? I have my own idea, but my personal opinion is of little interest in the legal process. What I want is evidence, a trial, and the killers jailed. »
In Lebanon, 220 political figures like Lokman Slim have been assassinated since 1943. But most of those responsible for these murders have never been arrested.
► Read also: A battle of ideas behind the death of Lokman Slim