U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said Thursday that Lokman Slim’s “barbaric assassination” is “an attack on Lebanon itself,” urging an “expeditious investigation of this and other recent killings.”
”Lokman Slim publicly and privately acknowledged that there were threats being made against his life, and yet he bravely continued to push for justice, accountability, and the rule of law in Lebanon,” Shea said in a video distributed by the U.S. embassy.
“This assassination was not just a brutal assault on an individual, but a cowardly attack on the principles of democracy, freedom of expression, and civic participation,” she added.
“It is also an attack on Lebanon itself.”
Stressing that “the use of threats and intimidation as a means to subvert the rule of law and silence political discourse is unacceptable,” Shea said the U.S. joins “other friends of Lebanon and the country’s leaders who have already condemned this horrific murder,” calling on leaders across the political spectrum to “do the same. ”
She added: “We also emphasize the need for an expeditious investigation of this and other recent unresolved killings so that the perpetrators of these acts are brought to justice. ”
“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,” Shea warned.
Video’s link: https://app.box.com/s/358dnqpk6x6shptqhz7060h78q8u711u