No signs of torture on body of slain Hezbollah critic, his wife says

An independent autopsy reveals no signs of torture on the body of a well-known Lebanese publisher and vocal critic of the Shiite Hezbollah terror group shot dead in his car last week, his wife says.

Lokman Slim, a 58-year-old political activist and commentator, was found dead with six bullets in his body Thursday on a deserted rural road in the country’s south. He was visiting friends there and was due back in Beirut late Wednesday when his family reported him missing.

Lokman Slim in an interview with MTV Lebanon News on July 27, 2013. (Screenshot: YouTube)

Slim’s family has expressed skepticism that a national investigation would lead to those who killed him, citing a history of unresolved assassinations and political crimes in Lebanon. They hired a private forensic pathologist to carry out their own examination of Slim’s body.

Monika Borgmann, Slim’s German wife who also has Lebanese citizenship, says a private autopsy was necessary to get all the needed information.

There was speculation in Arab media that Slim may have been tortured before he was shot. The circumstances of his killing remain unclear and Borgmann says a full autopsy report is not yet ready.

Borgmann calls for an international investigation, saying she has suspicions but no proof that his killers were members or supporters of Hezbollah.

“It is very clear who his enemies are,” Borgmann tells The Associated Press in an interview Monday. “It is mainly Hezbollah, but for me it is not enough to say we know his enemies and that is it.”

“I really want to find out. I want to know why. I want to know who and I want an international investigation,” she says.

Body of Lokman Slim, a longtime Shiite political activist and researcher, who has been found dead in his car, lies on the ground as Lebanese security forces inspect the scene in Addoussieh village, in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, February 4, 2021. (AP/Mohammed Zaatari)