ALBAWABA - Lebanese singer Fadel Chaker surrenders after years evading justice.
On Saturday, Lebanon's National News Agency said that singer Fadel Chaker turned himself in to military intelligence after being on the run for years.
People who know Fadel Chaker well told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that the Lebanese artist "turned himself in to a Lebanese military intelligence force at the Hisba checkpoint leading to the Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon."
Fadel Chaker Instagram profile
Reuters heard from people who saw Fadel Chaker "walk from the Ain al-Hilweh camp to an army checkpoint near Hisba in Sidon." He seemed calm and unfazed, and he talked positively to his friends. Witnesses also reported that three Lebanese army officers detained Fadel until they could question him.
Fadel Chaker had said that he was giving up singing and joining the armed group "Al-Assir" in 2012. In 2013, during the conflict between the Lebanese army and the group in Abra, Fadel fled to the Ain al-Hilweh camp to avoid harm.
The Permanent Military Court in Lebanon sentenced Fadel Chaker to two jail terms in 2020, despite his absence. He was charged with "interfering in terrorist acts" because he backed extremist groups fighting the Lebanese Army.
In September 2017, Fadel was given another military sentence while he was not there. This time, he was given 15 years in jail, and his civil rights were taken away.
But in a statement to the media in April of last year, Fadel Chaker said that he had "suffered injustice for more than thirteen years" and that all the charges against him were politically motivated and had no legal basis.
He said that the police did not want him when he went into the Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon. Instead, he fled from death threats, leading to the unwarranted issuance of warrants and subsequent court decisions.
According to Lebanese law, an absentee judgment remains valid until the defendant's arrest. The judgment in absentia is thrown out as soon as the defendant is arrested or turns himself in. The hearing is then rescheduled.
Years ago, the artist started singing again by putting out a few songs here and there on his YouTube channel without going on stage. A lot of people liked the songs he just made with his son Mohammed last summer.
