13 Arab stars who got arrested

Lebanese Director Simon Asmar was arrested in 2013 for the alleged murder of Syrian Mohammad Ragheb al-Darwish. 

Asmar was initially detained in the town of Ghazir over outstanding debts, according to The Daily Star, but police discovered links between Asmar and Darwish during the interrogation. 

Darwish reportedly worked in Asmar's restaurant and several witnesses said the two were engaging in sexual intercourse. This was denied by Asmar's son, Bachir.

Bachir admitted that his father was facing financial difficulties, but denied his connection to Darwish’s murder. 

Asmar was released on bail in 2014. 

Egyptian actor Mohammed Ramadan was arrested in 2013 for "carrying an illegal weapon." 

He spent a night in jail and was placed in solitary confinement before he was released on bail. 

Today, Ramadan is considered one of Egypt’s most celebrated actors.

Earlier this year, Syrian singer Assala drew regional attention after she was arrested for the possession of 2kg of cocaine.

Assala was headed for Cairo when the arrest happened in Lebanon. The Syrian diva denied claims that the cocaine was hers, saying that somebody had placed it in her belongings. 

Assala was later released on bail under the condition to undergo drug tests prior to her future visits to Beirut. 

She issued a statement following the incident, which was posted to her Facebook page:

"Beirut is my love and my country-twin. Its people love me very much and help me more than anyone else […] I feel like I was born there, and I adore every single atom of its soil. I won’t be mad at it, because it has no guilt in what happened to me [sic]," she wrote.

In August, Saudi actor and TV host, Abdallah Al Shaharani was arrested for dabbing on stage in the middle of a concert. 

The arrest took place in the city of Taif after Shaharani dabbed during a musical contest he was participating in. 

The dab - which was first seen in Atlanta rapper Skippa da Flippa's 2014 video 'How Fast Can You Count It' - is officially prohibited by Saudi Arabia's anti-drug authority as many see it as a dance move that promotes drug culture. 

Egyptian actor and singer, Tamer Hosny was arrested in 2006 after forging military papers to avoid enrolling in the army. 

Hosny received a one-year prison sentence for the crime whereas the man who helped forge the documents received a five-year prison term. 

During his time in prison, the singer worked on new entertainment projects and wrote three screenplays.

In 2016, Saad Lamjarred was arrested by Paris police on charges of sexually assaulting an unnamed French woman. 

The 31-year-old Moroccan singer was accused of raping and beating a French woman in Paris. 

That same year, an American woman accused Lamjarred of physically and sexually assaulting her in Brooklyn in 2010.

The singer was released on bail earlier this year, but will still face trial. 

He was made to wear an electronic tether that constantly alerts police of his movements until the trial takes place.

Lamjarred is not allowed to leave France and must remain at his residence between certain fixed hours determined by the judge, according to Al Arabiya.

In 2014, Bella Hadid was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). 

Hadid was on the highway when she knocked down a stop sign and nearly crashed into a patrol car. 

The model was about 17 at the time. 21 is the legal drinking age in the U.S. She was therefore not legally allowed to drink nor drive with the slightest drop of alcohol in her system.

The Palestinian-American model was reported to have been released the same day. 

In 2016, Saudi teen Abu Sin (a reference to his single big tooth) was arrested for "unethical behavior violating decency and religious values" after sharing a series of public video chats with American vlogger, Christina Crockett. 

Abu Sin first shared the videos on the live streaming site YouNow before uploading them to YouTube. 

The videos garnered thousands of views and ultimately led to his arrest. He was released on bail after a week-long detention. 

In 2015, Tunisian rapper Klay BBJ (also known as Ahmed Ben Ahmed) was arrested in Tunisia for the second time for the illegal possession and consumption of drugs. 

Soon after the arrest was made, Tunisians began calling for the release of the rapper with hashtags such as #freeklay and "leave Klay" in Arabic.

He was released from prison a few days after the arrest was made.

Although the rapper denied drug use, Klay BBJ has been at the center of controversy before. 

In 2013, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison along with rapper Weld El 15 for insulting a public servant. The sentence was later reduced to six months, which they appealed in court. They were eventually acquitted. 

Known as the "French Kim Kardashian," Nabilla Benattia is a French-Algerian reality TV star, model, and former convict.

Benattia shot to fame during the 2013 season of a French show called The Angels of Reality TV. She went on to land her own show called Allô Nabilla.

The star's first stint in prison was back in 2009 when she served six months for fraud. Then in 2014, she was arrested and charged by police for attempting to murder her boyfriend. When police arrived at the scene, her boyfriend had a severe knife wound to the chest.

Initially, Benattia tried to convince police that burglars had caused the wound, but she was convicted of the crime and went on to serve 6 months in prison, although she and her boyfriend had reportedly reconciled prior to the trial.

She went on to appear in a promo for popular American prison drama Orange Is The New Black, in which her character brags about killing her boyfriend with her bare hands.

Kuwait's Ministry of Interior described Kuwaiti actor and producer Adel Musallam as a "big drug supplier" following his arrest in 2016.

Musallam was well-known for boasting about his wealth and properties, often showing off his lavish lifestyle.

His wife, Bahraini artist Al Mahra, once famously warned him against bragging about his assets "to avoid the jealousy and envy of others."

Egyptian actress Dina Al Sherbiny was arrested in November 2013 during a police raid on an apartment whose owner dealt drugs. 

The actress, who was found in the apartment, later admitted to regularly buying cocaine from the seller who was also arrested during the police raid. 

She was sentenced to 1 year in prison and resumed her career in acting after completing her sentence.

Ahmad Fahmy, an Arab Idol presenter, who’s also a well-known singer and actor in Egypt was arrested in a 2013 fraud case. 

Fahmy was accused of defrauding a bank client out of money with the help of a bank employee. He spent five days in jail before he was later released on bail.