Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes team will appear in court in Lebanon, Beirut today, facing a number serious charges, including kidnapping.
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The children were handed over to Ms Faulkner but the agents and the film crew from 60 Minutes, including Brown, were arrested a short time later.
The Nine network has played down reports that it had launched an internal investigation into the involvement of its flagship current affairs program in the recovery operation amid unconfirmed reports the network paid a six figure sum to a controversial child recovery agency.
However, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday cited Lebanese officials as saying they had a signed statement from a member of the “recovery team” saying the network had paid A$115,000 ($88,100; £61,600).
BEIRUT (AP) – A Lebanese state prosecutor has extended the detention of an Australian woman, an Australian TV crew, and others Monday on suspicion of attempted kidnapping after assailants tried to snatch the woman’s two children from their father’s care in Beirut last week.
Faulkner was arrested later in the day at a home in Beirut, where her children were also found.
Mrs Faulkner emerged shaken and teary eyed after being questioned by the judge for about 20 minutes.
The custody dispute between Faulkner, 29, and her ex-husband has been going on for several years, and Australia media have reported that he took the two children to Lebanon for a holiday last year but did not return.
The youngsters were reportedly briefly reunited with their Australian mother, Sally Faulkner, but the Brisbane resident, Whittington and members of the television crew were later arrested and the children returned to their father.
She has alleged the children, Lahela, 6, and Noah, 4, were being kept illegally in Lebanon by her former husband, Ali Elamine. Journalists have been detained, jailed or even captured when filming in the past, but often these instances relate more to warfare or reporting from totalitarian countries rather than child custody cases.
Australian media named two of those held as reporter Tara Brown and producer Steven Rice.
“We understand that the prosecutor has recommended charges be laid against the “60 Minutes” crew and we’ll be working very closely with… our officials on the ground…to ensure their welfare is looked after”, Turnbull told Perth Radio 6PR. Under condition of anonymity, he said that the court would explore whether Faulkner had a right to custody under Australian law, and that fact would be taken into consideration.
Lebanon is not party to the Hague Convention, which provides recourse to parents who claim their children have been abducted internationally.
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“Australian consular staff in Beirut are continuing to provide ongoing consular assistance”, the spokesperson said.
