A hard-hit Lebanese pop star has been sentenced in absentia for supporting a ‘terrorist’ group.
Beirut, Lebanon – The Lebanese Military Tribunal has sentenced Fadel Shaker, a famous Lebanese singer, to 22 years in prison for providing financial support and supplies to a “terrorist” group led by the hard-working Muslim leader Ahmed al-Assir.
Shaker’s sentence, handed down in absentia on Wednesday, includes 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labor for “engaging in acts of terrorism committed by terrorists, with his experience of by providing them with supply services, “the Lebanese state ‘s National Press Agency said.
The court also took an additional seven years in prison for funding Shaker for al-Assir’s ragtag armed group. Shaker had paid for weapons and ammunition for the group.
The sentence is linked to Shaker’s involvement in 2013 fighting against the Lebanese Army in the suburb of Abra in the southern port city of Sidon, where he had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison by hard work.
Shaker was best known for songs about love and loss that made him star across the Middle East – until his retirement as a sinner in 2012, he grew a bearded beard and joined a group of al -Assir.
Al-Assir rose to prominence as the response to the uprising in nearby Syria became increasingly brutal, largely for his strong criticism of Hezbollah backed by Lebanese-backed government Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Shaker traded his songs for religious hymns, singing them at rallies in support of al-Assir.
In 2013, al-Assir led fighters against the Lebanese Army in two-day clashes that left dozens dead, including some 17 Lebanese soldiers.
Shaker, in a viral video at the time, said, “We sent home two bodies for you yesterday,” a claim that some describe as admitting to killing himself, two Lebanese soldiers.
He has since fled, living in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, where he was raised by a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father.
Lebanese security forces will not enter the camp with customs, leaving Shaker’s arrest unlikely.