A portrait of late Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, is seen on chairs during a funeral ceremony rally to mourn over his death, in Beirut’s suburbs, Lebanon, January 5, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Lebanon is a country marred by a myriad of calamities, from terrorism and assassinations, to the massive explosions that devastated Beirut in August. Political assassinations have shaken the country’s political spectrum since 2004. Many of these assassinations target critics of Hezbollah, its Iranian patron, and Syria.

The February 4 assassination of activist Lokman Slim is no different. Slim, 59, was an outspoken Shiite critic of Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy that dominates Lebanese politics and has built its own terrorist army. Slim was found shot dead in his car.

Last year, he was critical of Hezbollah for storing large amounts of sodium nitrate at Beirut’s port. The result was one of the most massive non-nuclear explosions in history last August. That explosion damaged nearly half the buildings in the capital, killed 200 people, and injured more than 6,000 others.

“The responsibility lies on those who need these materials,” Slim told the “Voice of Beirut” on December 5. “It lies on those who had allies a few kilometers from Beirut [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] using exploding barrels to bomb his people. Whoever brought the ammonium nitrate brought it for Lebanese affairs, maybe Syrian affairs, and maybe others. It is obvious that the ammonium nitrate was brought for military purposes, and there is only one party in this country that competes with the Lebanese army in terms of military strength, and that party is called the Hezbollah militia.”

But Hezbollah also had other reasons for wanting Slim dead. He was investigating “Hezbollah money laundering activities, looking into possible contacts between traders facilitating those activities for the movement, and going as far as attempting to link [them] with figures working with the Lebanese central bank,” Lebanese journalist Mona Alami wrote.

Days before his murder, Slim told Alami that he was working with a Hezbollah insider who “was ready to defect in exchange for his extraction from Lebanon and protection” from Hezbollah.

A wave of condemnations followed Slim’s assassination, from UNESCO General Director Audrey Azolay to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We join the international community in calling for his killers to be brought to swift justice. Mr. Slim devoted his life to bringing about positive change in Lebanon and bravely pushed for justice, accountability, and rule of law in his country,” Blinken said.

However, swift justice is hard to come by in Lebanon.

It took  the country 15 years to reach a verdict for Hezbollah officials responsible for killing Prime Minister Rafik Hariri with a massive bomb that targeted his motorcade. A Special Tribunal for Lebanon held in The Hague convicted Hezbollah member Salim Jamil Ayyash last August for his part in the assassination, but acquitted three other members of the terrorist group. Ayyash received five concurrent life sentences. However, the tribunal stopped short of indicting Hezbollah directly after finding insufficient evidence that the leadership of the group ordered the killing.

Since Hariri’s assassination, many high profile Lebanese political and social figures have met the same fate. Former cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel died after gunmen attacked his convoy in Beirut in 2006. Gemayel, who was the son of former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and leader of the Christian Phalange party, was a major critic of the Syrian regime and Hezbollah. Anti-Syrian lawmakers Antoine Ghanem and Walid Eido were killed by car bombs in 2007.

Even those who exposed Hezbollah’s assassinations and terrorism plots were killed, such as top terrorism investigator Major Wissam Eid.

Some Lebanese citizens have protested Slim’s murder, demanding justice for the slain activist, and a transparent investigation.

Slim’s sister, Rasha al-Amir, told “Sky News Arabia” that she doesn’t trust that Lebanon’s judiciary system will bring justice to her and her family: “We are not seeking the truth because it is clear as sunlight … Since we have a state that is more like a cadaver…. we are not going to ask them anything.”

Her pessimism is rooted in the Hariri case. “There were some people who were accused of assassinating Hariri. Hezbollah worked on liquidating them. They said they were killed in Syria, or they disappeared or died, so I don’t have faith in the fairness of any judiciary system in the world, even if it is an international court,” said al-Amir.

Slim received multiple death threats from Hezbollah supporters over the years, who staged protests and vandalized his house, which is located in the southern district of Beirut controlled by Hezbollah. In December 2019, he issued a statement saying that he was being targeted by Hezbollah supporters.

Hezbollah issued an official statement saying that the group denounces Slim’s assassination, and calling on authorities to hold the assassins accountable.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah tried to brush off accusations about Slim’s assassination, and insinuated that Slim was an Israeli agent.

The vicious circle of violence against Hezbollah’s critics in Lebanon is another example of how Hezbollah remains a clear and present danger to the integrity of the Lebanese state. Given Hezbollah’s notorious reputation and heavy-handed tactics against its critics, Slim is unlikely to be the last victim among Hezbollah’s critics.

Hany Ghoraba is an Egyptian writer, political and counter-terrorism analyst at Al Ahram Weekly, author of Egypt’s Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy and a regular contributor to the BBC.

A version of this article was originally published by The Investigative Project on Terrorism.