The Lebanese singer Fadl Shaker became a Salafist in 2013. After years on the run, he turned himself in to the Lebanese Army in October 2025. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Fadl Shaker, the Lebanese pop star who had a stint as an Islamic militant, once again proclaimed his innocence during his questioning by the Beirut Military Tribunal on Thursday.
Shaker told the tribunal's president, General Wassim Fayad, that he had not financed radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir's group and did not participate in the group's 2013 clashes against the Lebanese Army in Abra, near Saida, in southern Lebanon, in which 29 people were killed, including 18 soldiers.
Thursday's hearing had initially been scheduled for Nov. 25, was postponed to Feb. 3 at the request of Shaker's lawyer, Amata Moubarak, who said she needed more time to review the case file, and then was moved earlier. Moubarak also requested the hearing happen behind closed doors, a request that was granted by the tribunal.
According to the Associated Press, Shaker told the tribunal he'd only gotten close to Assir after receiving threats from Hezbollah and Assad regime supporters.
Shaker, whose father is of Palestinian descent, said that his house was set on fire and his money stolen, forcing him to flee to Ain al-Hilweh for safety, AP reported, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Shaker's next hearing was set by Fayad for Feb. 12, for which witnesses have been summoned, including Assir himself, who was sentenced to death for the clashes, which was commuted to a life sentence.
Shaker turned himself in to the authorities in October after 12 years on the run, during which he was mostly hiding out in Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida.
According to a journalist from the National News Agency, on site at the courthouse stated that the hearing lasted two and a half hours, “during which Shaker was questioned about the various security charges against him.”
Shaker faces four charges on which he was convicted in absentia: the first concerns organizing armed groups with the intent to commit crimes, undermining the prestige and authority of the state, undermining the military institution, armed insurrection against constitutional institutions, illegal possession of weapons, incitement to sectarian strife, attempted murder of army officers and soldiers in the line of duty.
The second relates to his involvement in offenses of possessing explosives and terrorist acts through providing logistical services to terrorists.
The third stems from a televised interview given in Ain al-Hilweh in which he made statements that courts say could damage Lebanon’s relations with an Arab country. The fourth concerns his financing of Assir’s armed group.
A hearing for Shaker and Assir before the Beirut Criminal Court is scheduled for Friday, as part of the case concerning the attempted assassination of Hilal Hammoud, one of Hezbollah’s officials, in 2013. The session is expected to be tense as it brings the two men together for the first time since Assir's imprisonment.
