Beirut (AP) – An independent autopsy showed no signs of torture on the body of a well-known Lebanese editor and vocal critic of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah shot to death in his car last week, his wife said on Monday.
Lokman Slim, a 58-year-old political activist and commentator, was found dead with six bullets in his body on Thursday on a deserted rural road in the south of the country. He was visiting friends there and was due to return to Beirut on Wednesday night, when his family reported his disappearance.
Slim’s family expressed skepticism that a national investigation would lead to those who killed him, citing a story of unsolved murders and political crimes in Lebanon. They hired a private forensic pathologist to do Slim’s own body exam.
Monika Borgmann, Slim’s German wife who also has Lebanese citizenship, said that a private autopsy was needed to obtain all the necessary information.
There was speculation in the Arab media that Slim may have been tortured before he was shot. The circumstances of his death remain unclear and Borgmann said that a full autopsy report was not yet ready.
Borgmann called for an international investigation, saying she has suspicions, but no evidence that her killers were members or supporters of Hezbollah.
“It is very clear who his enemies are,” Borgmann told the Associated Press in an interview on Monday. “It is mainly Hezbollah, but for me it is not enough to say that we know its enemies, period.”
“I really want to find out. I want to know why. I want to know who and I want an international investigation, ”she said.
Borgmann said he is discussing with lawyers and friends ways to press for an international investigation, joining other Lebanese who are calling for similar investigations into other unresolved crimes. As a German citizen, she said, she is also studying whether to start an investigation in Germany.
Hezbollah condemned Slim’s murder, calling for a quick investigation and urging security agencies to fight crimes they say have spread to Lebanon. Hezbollah said such killings were “exploited politically and by the media at the expense of security and domestic stability” – a blow to its accusers.
Perpetrators of political violence or corruption are almost never identified or prosecuted in Lebanon.
An investigation into a massive explosion in the port of Beirut last August barely left the ground and was paralyzed because of political resistance from powerful officials who were accused of negligence. It also sparked calls for an international investigation into the explosion that killed 211 people.
“No local investigation has brought any justice,” said Borgmann. “This cold-blooded murder is not going to end like this. I will do what I can. “
Slim’s murder led to international condemnation and requires a swift investigation.
On Monday, US Ambassador Dorothy Shea met with Lebanon’s Minister of Justice to discuss the investigation into Slim’s murder and the need to hold those responsible responsible, the US Embassy said without giving further details.
Slim and Borgmann, a 20-year-old couple, documented stories of missing persons, national arrests and traumas in Lebanon and Syria, producing films, art shows and maintaining an elaborate archive of Lebanese and Shiite history.
Slim, a Shi’ite, was a severe critic of Hezbollah’s control over Lebanon and his alliance with Iran. He campaigned for more representation in Lebanese politics, but for his critics, mostly Hezbollah supporters, Slim was a traitor which called for Israeli intervention or military operations in Lebanon.
Slim said he had received threats before, including posters calling him a Zionist nailed to the walls of his home in a southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah’s base in the capital.
“I can’t say why he was killed now … (that is) another reason why I would like to see an international investigation,” said Borgmann, sitting in the garden at Slim’s family home. The house also houses the research and documentation center that the couple founded in 2005.
Borgmann said she has no plans to leave the country and will continue the work that she and Slim did together to preserve Lebanon’s history and memory.
Borgmann said she was sad, but also angry about her husband’s death. “It is in the end … the anger that helps me move forward,” she said.
A funeral and funeral ceremony was planned for Thursday at the family home where Slim was born and which he refused to abandon even after Hezbollah installed its headquarters in the neighborhood.