Fadel Shaker was granted bail by Lebanese authorities on Wednesday in connection with 2013 clashes that saw supporters of the Sunni Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir open fire on a military checkpoint in the Abra neighborhood of Sidon, Lebanese media reported.
The singer had already spent months in jail while he awaited a retrial on the charges of belonging to an armed group, financing militant factions, and money laundering. A court had already sentenced him in absentia to 22 years in prison in 2020.
Shaker was alleged to have supported the Sunni group responsible for the 2013 attack on Lebanese Army soldiers near Sidon, in which 18 soldiers were killed. The group, led by followers of Assir, strongly opposed Hezbollah and Iranian influence in Lebanon, as well as the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria.
Shaker surrendered last October after spending 12 years hiding in Ein el-Hilweh, the largest Palestine Refugee camp in Lebanon, in the country’s South.
Judicial officials, according to Lebanese authorities, granted Shaker bail at the cost of 500 million Lebanese pounds.
Shaker received threats Hezbollah, supporters of Bashar al-Assad
Shaker previously testified that he had received threats from both Hezbollah and supporters of Bashar al-Assad, and confirmed he had once been close with Assir. While he admitted the pair had a connection, Shaker alleged in a January testimony that he had already grown distant with Assir before the 2013 clashes due to prior disagreements.
Though Shaker has denied taking part in the clashes, Al Jazeera reported on a video shared on YouTube in 2013 where the singer boasted about killing two Hezbollah terrorists.
“We have two rotting corpses that we snatched from you yesterday,” he can be heard saying.
Responding to the bail, Shaker published on his Instagram “Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. Today, new lines of freedom were written for me, and I am grateful to God first and to all who stood by me and supported me in my case.
“I hope you understand my health and family situation and grant me a short period to regain my strength and to check on my family. I promise to return to you soon, as you have been and remain the support and love I cherish.”