Lebanese Authorities Grant Bail To Singer Fadel Shaker Over 2013 Sidon Abra Clashes

Lebanese authorities granted bail to singer Fadel Shaker on Wednesday in connection with 2013 clashes in the Abra neighborhood of Sidon, where supporters of Sunni Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir opened fire on a military checkpoint.

“Lebanese authorities have granted bail to Fadel Shaker, the pop star accused of joining a rebel group, who spent months in jail while being retried on charges of belonging to an armed group and money laundering”

Al Jazeera

The Jerusalem Post said Shaker had already spent months in jail while he awaited a retrial on charges including belonging to an armed group, financing militant factions, and money laundering, after a court sentenced him in absentia to 22 years in prison in 2020.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that judicial officials said he made a 500 million Lebanese pounds ($5,500) bail payment and was released on Wednesday after being questioned about allegations including taking part in the Sidon clashes between government troops and followers of a Sunni Muslim sheikh in 2013.

The Jerusalem Post added that 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.

In the same case, The Jerusalem Post said the 2013 attack on Lebanese Army soldiers near Sidon killed 18 soldiers, while Al Jazeera said 18 Lebanese soldiers and between 25 and 40 of al-Assir’s fighters were killed in the Abra neighborhood clashes.

A judicial source told حفريات that the Lebanese Permanent Military Court ordered Shaker’s release on bail in four security-related cases after about nine months in detention, with the court chaired by Brigadier General Wasim Fayyad.

حفريات said the court approved releasing Shaker in three cases in return for bail of 100 million Lebanese pounds for each case, and in the fourth case known as the Abra file with bail of 200 million pounds.

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The Jerusalem Post reported that Shaker received threats from Hezbollah and supporters of Bashar al-Assad, and it quoted Shaker responding to the bail by posting on 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.”

Al Jazeera described the allegations as including belonging to an armed group, funding armed groups, money laundering, and taking part in the Sidon clashes in 2013, and it said Shaker was released after being questioned about the array of allegations.

The Jerusalem Post also said Shaker had previously testified that he had once been close with Assir, while admitting the pair had a connection but alleging in a January testimony that he had grown distant with Assir before the 2013 clashes due to prior disagreements.

Al Jazeera said four cases against Shaker are ongoing, and that they are understood to include allegations of taking part in the formation of an armed group, funding armed groups and money laundering.

“Beirut's Criminal Court, chaired by Judge Bilal Dannawi, on Friday, February 6, 2026, postponed the session of the trial involving singer Fadl Shaker, Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, and several other defendants”

Libnanews

Libnanews reported that Beirut’s Criminal Court, chaired by Judge Bilal Dannawi, postponed a trial session involving singer Fadl Shaker, Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, and several other defendants to April 24, with the adjournment set to allow pleadings in a case of a murder attempt dating back to 2013 against Hilal Hamoud, head of the Saraya al-Muqawama in Sidon.

Libnanews said the court heard Hilal Hamoud’s testimony about a May 25, 2013 incident near the Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque in Abra, where he said heavy shooting targeted a terrace for six to eight minutes with about 180 bullets fired.

In that same Libnanews account, the court said the accused included Fadl Shaker and Ahmad al-Assir detained, while four others—Bilal al-Halabi, Hadi al-Qawas, Abdul Nasser Hanini, and a fourth—have been released on bail.

Al Jazeera added that Shaker’s proceedings are understood to be ongoing after authorities dropped previous sentences after his surrender and he went on trial in January, following his 2020 in absentia sentence to a total of 22 years in prison.