Fadel Shaker, Ahmad al-Assir acquitted of attempted murder
A Lebanese court on Wednesday acquitted singer Fadel Shaker of the attempted murder of an official from a Hezbollah-allied group, a judicial official told AFP, after the star surrendered to police.
The Lebanese-Palestinian entertainer turned himself over to authorities in October after more than a decade in hiding in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Shaker was accused of taking part in 2013 clashes in the south Lebanon city of Sidon between the military and supporters of Salafist Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, which left 18 soldiers dead.
While Shaker was a supporter of Assir, he denied involvement in the violence.
He was also accused, alongside Assir and four others, of the attempted murder of Hilal Hammoud, a local official with the Hezbollah-allied Lebanese Resistance Brigades.
They were all acquitted on Wednesday due to "insufficient evidence", the judicial official told AFP.
Still in detention, Shaker is due to appear on May 26 before a military court in four other cases, including participating in the formation of an armed group.
During his years on the run, courts convicted him in absentia and imposed sentences ranging from five to 15 years of hard labor.
In the months leading up to his surrender in October, Shaker released new songs, recorded in the refugee camp, that topped charts in the Arab world.
Assir, arrested in 2015 while attempting to flee Lebanon, was sentenced to death in 2017, then to 20 years of hard labor in 2021.
Source: Agence France Presse
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