Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Raï affirmed that the assassination of political researcher Luqman Slim is an assassination of free thought, stressing the need to put an end to uncontrolled weapons.
In his Sunday sermon, as reported by the Lebanese New TV channel, Beshara Boutros Raï said, "O officials, the state is not yours, nor is the people livestock to be slaughtered for your interests and indifference," emphasizing that "the people will rise again in the streets and will revolt and hold accountable, and hopes for the formation of a government have gone in vain." He continued, "Our people are on the verge of dying, and the state is a dead conscience. All the countries of the world empathized with the people of Lebanon except their own state," questioning, "Is there a greater crime than this?" He added, "We called, but they did not hear us. We asked, but they did not respond. We initiated, but they did not engage. We will not tire of demanding our rights. Our people will not leave; they will stay here. They will rise again in the streets and demand their rights, they will revolt and hold accountable. Your negativity pushes them forcibly toward negativity. Your disregard for their pains and tragedies drives them toward extreme choices. Moreover, all Lebanese, Arab, and international initiatives and mediations have been exhausted without success, as if there is a determination to bring down the state in all that it represents of uniqueness, values, constitution, system, and national partnership."
Regarding the assassination of activist Luqman Slim, Raï stated: "It is an assassination of free thought and the time has come to put an end to uncontrolled weapons," calling on the "state to reveal the killers and the party that incited the killing."
Lebanese media reported that the activist was found dead inside a rented car between the towns of Al-Adousiyeh and Taffeh in southern Lebanon, after his sister Rasha Al-Amir announced that he had been missing for several hours. She tweeted, "My brother Luqman Slim left Niha in the south 6 hours ago returning to Beirut, and he has not returned. His phone is not responding. There is no trace of him in hospitals. Anyone who knows about him, please contact me, thank you."
For its part, the Lebanese forensic authority announced that "Luqman Slim's body was hit by five bullets and no identification card was found with the body." Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Aoun requested that the Attorney General, Judge Ghassan عويدات, conduct the necessary investigations to uncover the circumstances surrounding the assassination of activist Luqman Slim, which occurred in the Al-Adousiyeh area in the south, emphasizing the "necessity of expediting the investigation to understand the circumstances that led to the crime and the parties behind it."
