ALBAWABA - Lebanese singer Fadel Chaker surrender sparks controversy over claims of innocence.
As the name of the Lebanese artist Fadel Chaker was brought back into the public eye by a lot of controversy, a video clip of his son Mohammed revealing his father's "acquittal after surrendering himself to the Lebanese Army" went viral on social media.
Many people congratulated and discussed the scene, and the story seemed like an unexpectedly dramatic turn in a case that has been in the news for years.
Al Jazeera found that the film was real but misused to spread false information about Fadel Chaker's case.
Fadel Chaker, a Lebanese artist, has returned to prominence following a more than 13-year hiatus due to controversy. This time, he is not in the musical spotlight like he used to be.
The singer shocked everyone by turning himself in to Lebanese Army Intelligence. He had been hiding for years in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon. Art books no longer tell his story; instead, the police and courts now keep it in their files. His capture has led to a lot of talk about what will happen to him after years of being away and alone.
The review by the Al Jazeera Verification team, which used reverse engineering and cross-reference checking, showed that the video being shared is real but has been cut short and used in the wrong way.
Social media users shared a short video clip that is no longer than 15 seconds long. The video features a happy Mohammed Chaker stating that his father was not engaged in combat against the Lebanese Army. This footage makes it look like the event happened recently and has something to do with his father's recent surrender.
The first one, which Mohammed shared on his TikTok account on April 16, 2025, is almost a minute long. It's obvious that the acquittal is from 2018 and has to do with a court decision in a case involving charges of armed conflict against the Lebanese Army. He says that the news at the time didn't do a good job of covering the ruling.
Last Saturday evening, the handover happened at the Hisbah checkpoint at the entrance to the Ain al-Hilweh camp. An army intelligence group was there to watch. This was done so that he could be put on trial and end his more than 10-year legal case.
The Army Command's (Directorate of Orientation) first official statement said that "wanted person Fadel Abdel Rahman Shamdar, also known as Fadel Chaker, turned himself in to a patrol from the Intelligence Directorate at the entrance to the Ain al-Hilweh camp in connection with the 2013 Abra events." The Army Command announced the start of a probe with the assistance of the appropriate authorities.
Fadel Chaker's Instagram profile
The Military Court sentenced him to 22 years of brutal labor in prison in 2020, despite his absence. In 2018, some of the charges against him were dropped, which meant he wasn't found guilty of dying in battle or directly killing soldiers.
In a statement released in April of last year, Chaker said he had been wronged "for more than 13 years." In a statement released in April of last year, Chaker stated that he had fled to the camp "to escape death threats, not out of fear of the judiciary" and referred to the charges against him as "political score-settling."
