Fadel Shaker, a Lebanese pop star turned Islamist militant, appeared in a Beirut court Tuesday for the first time since surrendering this month after 12 years on the run.
Shaker had been hiding in the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp following deadly clashes in Sidon in June 2013 between Sunni militants and the Lebanese army. He was previously tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for supporting a “terrorist group.”
Under a deal that led him to surrender, Shaker’s previous sentences were dropped, and he is now being questioned ahead of trial on new charges related to crimes against the military. Tuesday’s session was a preliminary hearing.
During the 2013 shootout, which left at least 18 soldiers dead, Shaker appeared in videos taunting the army. Once a celebrated pop star with a 2002 hit across the Arab world, Shaker later aligned with hard-line Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and renounced singing to focus on religion.
In recent years, he returned to releasing music, including a July single with his son Mohammed that has amassed over 127 million views on YouTube.