The poster announcing the 4th commemoration of Lokman Slim's murder on February 3, 2025: "The evidence is overwhelming, but it has been decided to close the investigation without further action."
BEIRUT — The examining magistrate of Beirut, Roula Sfeir, who replaced the interim chief examining magistrate of Beirut, Bilal Halaoui, in the case of the assassination of Lokman Slim, held a first hearing on Tuesday.
Halaoui was removed on March 20 from the investigation into the assassination of the Shiite intellectual and staunch opponent of Hezbollah on Feb. 3, 2021, after he had decided to suspend it indefinitely.
L'Orient Today learned that Sfeir devoted the session to hearing from the victim's relatives and their lawyers, who submitted written requests aiming to reinvigorate the investigation.
These requests are reportedly related to the summoning of witnesses, the issuance of rogatory commissions to security services, as well as international cooperation.
Germany had been tasked by Halaoui's predecessor, Charbel Abou Samra, with extracting DNA from Slim's car in order to identify the perpetrators of the crime.
After taking on the case, Halaoui met in May 2024 with the German consul and an officer. Having considered that Germany, as well as UNIFIL, which has a post near the crime scene, were unable to provide new data, the Halaoui declared last December that the case was classified "until new elements emerge," merely issuing a search warrant against an unknown individual.
For her part, Judge Sfeir has set the next hearing for July 10, which will likely be dedicated to her decision regarding the requests of Slim's family.