Deal may aid 60 Minutes crew caught up in Lebanon saga
CHANNEL 9 boss Hugh Marks has written to staff explaining his priorities, as questions loom over the 60 Minutes bungled child recovery mission.
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CHANNEL 9 boss Hugh Marks has written to network staff confirming management has yet to begin its internal investigation of 60 Minutes bungled child recovery in Beirut.
In a company-wide memo seen by NewsCorp Australia, Mr Marks said: “I know there are lots of questions about how this happened. Questions we will get to the bottom of when everyone gets back. It is essential that we do whatever we can to help facilitate our crew’s fastest possible return to Australia.”
As news director Darren Wick co-ordinated Nine’s latest rescue mission on the ground in Lebanon, the network’s chief executive told staff: [Wick] has had regular but brief visits with Tara [Brown], Stephen [Rice], Ben [Williamson] and Tangles [David Ballment], albeit not with the opportunity to speak with them privately.”
“They are in good health, generally good spirits, are detained in reasonable conditions and being well treated by local officials. Our fixer on the ground is doing a great job and we have organised food, books and other comforts and necessities.”
Mr Marks wrote: “Wickie has had numerous meetings with a wide range of senior government and legal officials and our presence there is being well received. We are highly respectful of the Lebanese legal process and this is well understood and appreciated over there. The signals from our PM and Foreign Minister have also been well received in Lebanon and we are getting good assistance from DFAT. We think it is encouraging that the judge has directed the parents of the two children to reach a mediated agreement on custody. It demonstrates sound logic and a rational approach to what has been an intractable issue for that family.”
He added: “And I know it’s a testing and frustrating time for us all, especially for those who are close to the 60 crew, colleagues and friends. My priority is to get our crew home and every decision is made through that prism, while providing whatever support we can give to those who are impacted by these events.”
Staff who were keen to send messages of support were encouraged to do so, “but the process to get them through to the crew is complex because they need to be translated before passing on.”
Signing off, he wrote: “We are keeping the crew’s families informed, as much as we know and regularly meeting them at Willoughby to keep them up to date. They are holding up very well under the circumstances. That goes to the heart of where we are right now; our colleagues are being detained and our first and only priority right now is to get them home. Thanks, Hugh.”
60 Mins families told: ‘Hang in there’
THE families of the 60 Minutes crew facing charges after being detained in Beirut, are not giving up hope, posting emotive notes and photos on social media.
Cara Williamson, the partner of camerman Ben Williamson, posted an old photograph of their family united together on Facebook in happier circumstances.
The photograph, which became her new profile picture, attracted a wave of support from friends, who said they were sending their prayers and told her to: “Hang in there”.
His mother Shan Williamson also posted a family photo to her Facebook page.
Ben’s brother Nick Williamson also posted a note to his Facebook page earlier this week, asking for “positive vibes” so his brother could come home soon.
The case against the 60 Minutes crew
CHARGES against 10 detainees including five Australians involved in a botched child grab will not be dropped with a judge today declaring they did a crime and had to face the consequences.
The declaration from judge Rami Abdullah came late yesterday after he adjourned until next week the case in a Beirut judicial process against Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner and a Channel Nine news crew led by high profile reporter Tara Brown.
The prospect of having to spend further days in jail did not bode well for at least one of the detainees. Briton Craig Michael, who was shackled to another prisoner and shaking uncontrollably, moaned out to media “I’m sick, I’m sick” as he shuffled into the judge’s chambers in the south eastern suburb of Baabda Palace of Justice.
It is understood there have been inconsistencies in witness statements taken from the 10 detainees, including three Lebanese men and two Britons including Mr Michael and dual Australian national Adam Whittington who led the snatch team.
The judge said he wanted further investigations to be done but while he hoped to resolve the case particularly with mediation between Ms Faulkner and her estranged husband Ali Elamine, he said there was no chance any charges against anybody would be dropped and certainly not soon as he remanded them into pre-trial detention.
“There is no way for charges to be dropped, there is violence of Lebanese authority by all these people, okay, this is a crime okay,” he said in his chambers as he sought to give an update of how the case was progressing.
‘This is Lebanon not Australia’
He said it would help the case for all defendants — including the 60 Minutes crew of Brown, Benjamin Williamson, David Ballment and Stephen Rice — that there was mediation between the parents but state laws were still broken.
The three Australian men were brought before the judge shackled together.
On whether Ms Faulkner would have to do jail time he responded: “I can’t answer that”.
“There are no results, we are still investigating, postponing till Monday then we will continue our job,” he said.
When asked whether it mattered that she had been granted custody of the children in Australia the judge quipped, “Yes but this is Lebanon not Australia” and added that the children were Lebanese.
Nine news boss attends court
Head of Nine news Darren Wick attended court today to be with his team and their lawyers, as did one time journalist and 60 Minutes producer turned international risk management expert as head of Hart Asia Pacific Sallie Stone.
Mr Wick, standing just metres away from his crew shackled together and awaiting to be put before the judge, declined to comment about the case, saying he would only speak after it was resolved.
He remained in the court complex long after it closed for discussions with his team and lawyers.
Ms Faulkner and the nine others including the Channel 9 crew have been advised they were to be charged over the failed attempt to snatch her kids three-and-a-half-year-old Noah and six-year-old Lahela off a main street in Beirut as they waited for their school bus with a nanny and grandmother who was pushed to the ground and hit on the head during the scuffle.
Earlier, the 60 Minutes team at the centre of the kidnapping case were preparing to face-off with their fellow accused, including Ms Faulkner, as a court evaluated conflicting testimonies.
The ten accused, including high-profile reporter Tara Brown, were brought before Judge Abdullah to go over their statements, with their lawyers and translators present for the first time.
But the court has said the accused — thrown in jail last week after the bungled snatching of two children from a school bus stop in the southern Beirut suburb of Hadath — may be brought in to face each other if their individual testimonies do not gel.
Ms Brown and the nine others including senior producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson sound recordist David Ballment and Ms Faulkner, are facing charges of kidnapping, harm and disrespect for authorities which can carry anything from three years to life in jail.
They have been imprisoned since the failed attempt to snatch her kids three and a half year old Noah and five and a half year old Lahela off a main street in Beirut as they waited for their school bus with a nanny and grandmother who was pushed to the ground and hit on the head during the scuffle.
Possible deal for Sally Faulkner
Earlier yesterday lawyers working the case for Ms Faulkner said there had been a breakthrough of sorts to free the group jailed since last Wednesday with negotiations between the parents that could see the more serious charges against her dropped.
But in return for her freedom she may have to surrender custody claims and settle for visitation rights. Compensation to Mr Elamine’s family may also be involved in the deal.
Her lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab confirmed Mr Elamine, a dual American-Lebanese national, and his mother Ibtissam Berri — who was shoved to the ground and allegedly hit on the head with a butt of what she said was a pistol during a scuffle to snatch the children — were the complainants in the case.
He said the fact the parents were talking was helping to move the case along.
“They are talking now,” Mr Moghabghab said of the couple, who are not legally divorced.
“We are finding a solution that will resolve all of the problems. The solution is an agreement between her and her husband. It will not be a private agreement but one the court will accept. They are talking now, a couple of times.”
Moghabghab revealed the judge Rami Abdullah had been pushing for Mr Elamaine to drop his charges and the father was close to agreeing.
He said his client was not in any position to dictate the terms and all rested on her estranged partner.
“(The judge) said this is the mother of the children and he had to take this into consideration and even if he saw she did something not good, she is still the mother of the children,” he said.
“I think this would help all the accused people. I don’t know if charges dropped against all the accused people but it will help.”
Moghabghab said he was never aware of the child recovery operation despite representing her claim for custody in Lebanon for a year: “For sure not I would never let her do such things”.
Lebanese-Australian relations put to the test
Earlier Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil said he instructed the creation of a joint Lebanese-Australian committee to settle the custody dispute over the two children and potential future cases.
Mr Bassil said after meeting with Australian Ambassador Glenn Miles he was taking measures to “hasten a solution to the matter so that it does not damage Lebanese-Australian relations.”
Judge Abdullah said he was unaware of the remarks but they would not change his process as investigative judge in the matter and he did not feel any political pressure to hasten proceedings to the detriment of the judicial process.
Currently all 10 before the courts face charges of kidnapping, being members of a “gang” with intent to carry out criminal acts, causing harm or injury and disrespecting local authorities and law.
Tara Brown’s first words
Speaking exclusively from behind a barred and heavily meshed holding cell in the bowels of the court complex, Ms Brown said she was hopeful of some resolution.
She said she didn’t want to say too much so as to not jeopardise her case but she was well and getting daily visits from friends.
“Quite genuinely we are being treated well by the standards here, it’s fine, it’s not crowded,” she told News Corp Australia of her incarceration conditions.
The case has been adjourned until Monday with all to remain in detention. No imminent decision has been made with Judge Abdullah declaring that further investigation is required.
She said she now had a local lawyer but was not sure what the process was or what steps were to be taken next.
“It really is quite hard to gauge at the moment what is happening so we are going through a process, we’ll see,” she said.
She has to wear handcuffs every time she is out of the cell or being moved between rooms in court. Sometimes she is manacled alone other times to others arrested with her.
Prison guards said she and her news crew were getting what they needed, including very regular visits from Australian embassy staff.
He said Ms Brown was in a cell with six others which was “very good”.
Normally he said one could expect very crowded conditions particularly with the current crackdown on prostitution in the capital and the regular arrests of foreign workers working without visas from sub Sahara or Sri Lanka. The Australian men were a little more cramped
but guards declined to comment on conditions.
A Nine Network spokeswoman said it was a relief to know Lebanese authorities were treating the detained 60 Minutes crew “well”.
“It is reassuring and comforting to know they are being treated well and are in good health,” she said.
The network is currently working with a Lebanese legal team and the Australian embassy in Lebanon to “get the team home as soon as possible”, she said.
Suggestions of conflicting evidence
Judge Abdullah has a brown-paper file containing each of the individual statements of the accused.
The envelope, seen by News Corp yesterday, is covered in hand-scrawled notes in both Arabic and English.
Yesterday the three Lebanese accused spoke at length about their indirect involvement in the case and it is understood their testimony has raised conflicting evidence.
“If there appears to be these different stories, they will be forced to confront each other before the judge so he can establish the truth,” a legal insider said.
‘We respect the Lebanese legal system’: Turnbull
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday said support was being given to five Australians charged in relation to the alleged abduction.
Mr Turnbull said the five were receiving full consular support from Australian diplomats and consular officials in Beirut.
“We are providing them with every support but of course we respect the Lebanese legal system and their right to investigate and take proceedings if they feel offences have been committed,” he said.
“But we support Australians who find themselves in these difficulties and these circumstances right around the world and of course we’re doing that with respect to the 60 Minutes crew in Beirut at the moment.”
— with AAP
Originally published as Deal may aid 60 Minutes crew caught up in Lebanon saga
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