Lebanese singer turned militant Fadel Chaker appeared in a Beirut court on Wednesday for the first time, after 12 years on the run.
Chaker, who surrendered to the authorities earlier this month, arrived in a van with blacked-out windows for the court appearance, which was a preliminary questioning session.
He went into hiding in the Ain Al Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in southern Lebanon, after being accused of involvement in deadly clashes between supporters of radical cleric Ahmed Al Assir and the Lebanese army in the coastal city of Sidon in June 2013.
Chaker was tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a terrorist group.
By long-standing convention, Lebanese security forces do not enter Lebanon's 12 official Palestinian refugee camps.
Chaker turned himself in under a deal in which the sentences he received while on the run would be dropped and he would be questioned in preparation to stand trial on new charges of committing crimes against the military.
He became a pop star throughout the Arab world with smash hit Aash Mn Shafak in 2002. Almost 10 years later, he fell under the influence of Mr Al Assir. Chaker denies playing any role in the clashes in Sidon and said he never advocated bloodshed.
He remained largely out of the public eye for the past decade but began periodically releasing music in recent years, including several singles this year. In July, Chaker and his son Mohammed released a new song on his YouTube channel that has garnered more than 188 million views.
