Protesters Stage Sit-in Condemning Lokman Slim’s Murder

Groups of activists staged a sit-in on Saturday in the Samir Qassir square in downtown Beirut condemning the assassination of renowned activist and researcher Lokman Slim.

The protesters urged the Lebanese and dissident forces to unify their ranks to confront “tyranny and bloodshed, in order to restore the hijacked authority of the state,” their statement said.

It added that the “United Nations must secure ways to protect the Lebanese from the disastrous repercussions caused by the criminal behavior of a failed and corrupt system.”

Slim, a prominent and long-time publisher and vocal critic of Hizbullah was found shot dead in his car on Thursday morning, a brazen killing that sparked fears of a return to political violence in this country gripped by social and economic upheaval.

To his friends, Slim was a fearless critic of Lebanon's powerful politicians, Hizbullah and its allies Iran and Syria. Critics, however, accused Slim of sowing sedition, undermining national unity and being a “Zionist” because of his criticisms of Hizbullah.