BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities on Wednesday released on bail a pop star-turned-militant who had spent months in jail awaiting a retrial on charges of belonging to an armed group and money laundering, judicial officials said.
Fadel Shaker had surrendered after 12 years on the run last October, giving himself up to the Lebanese military intelligence service after hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the port city of Sidon.
Shaker had been tried in absentia in 2020, sentenced to 22 years in prison for supporting a “terrorist group” over bloody street clashes that had erupted in 2013 between Sunni militants and Lebanese army soldiers near Sidon.
According to four judicial officials, he paid 500 million Lebanese pounds ($5,500) for bail and was released on Wednesday after being questioned about an array of allegations, including being part of an armed group, funding armed groups, money laundering — and most significantly, taking part in the Sidon clashes.
The cases have not been closed so far as a probe into the allegations continues. The four officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
After his release, Shaker left the military facility in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, where he was being held, and is now in a rented apartment, the officials said. Shaker and his lawyer did not respond to inquiries about his release and bail.
黎巴嫩歌手轉武裝分子獲准保釋，2013年衝突調查仍在進行
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities on Wednesday released on bail a pop star-turned-militant who had spent months in jail awaiting a retrial on charges of belonging to an armed group and money laundering, judicial officials said.
Fadel Shaker had surrendered after 12 years on the run last October, giving himself up to the Lebanese military intelligence service after hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the port city of Sidon.
Shaker had been tried in absentia in 2020, sentenced to 22 years in prison for supporting a “terrorist group” over bloody street clashes that had erupted in 2013 between Sunni militants and Lebanese army soldiers near Sidon.
According to four judicial officials, he paid 500 million Lebanese pounds ($5,500) for bail and was released on Wednesday after being questioned about an array of allegations, including being part of an armed group, funding armed groups, money laundering — and most significantly, taking part in the Sidon clashes.
The cases have not been closed so far as a probe into the allegations continues. The four officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
After his release, Shaker left the military facility in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, where he was being held, and is now in a rented apartment, the officials said. Shaker and his lawyer did not respond to inquiries about his release and bail.