60 Minutes crew, Sally Faulkner hearing delayed until Wednesday

THE father at the centre of the 60 Minutes kidnapping drama says his kids were “obviously messed up” by the ordeal.

THE father at the centre of the botched child recovery operation in Beirut says his children have been affected by what they saw as they were bundled into a car off a Beirut street.

Ali Elamine says he’s unwilling to drop charges against his ex-wife, Australian woman Sally Faulkner, an armed recovery team and a TV crew from Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program, including reporter Tara Brown, for their roles in the alleged plot.

Mr Elamine says his daughter Lahela and son Noah have been adversely affected by the incident.

“The kids are obviously messed up from it mentally,” he told Melbourne’s talk-back station 3AW.

“Not only were they scared but they are trying to imitate what has happened to play rough now, because they say Mummy’s friends were mean to Grandma, and I said, ‘They’re not mean, they just work out and they’re very strong and they didn’t know how to bring you in the car to Mummy’.

“Lahela, she’s trying to play rough with her brother.”

Otherwise, Mr Elamine said, the children were OK.

“They’re all right. They’re a bit scared, they’re a bit shaken by the whole situation.

“I mean, to have some randoms come out and snatch you in the middle of the street, I don’t think anyone would want that. We’re trying to deal with it as much as we can.”

Mr Elamine said he was not ready to drop any charges.

“It’s so weird. Sometimes I feel like, yeah, I mean, they poked their noses into a family/personal issue. It’s not like they’re going around, fighting terrorism or something,” he said.

He said he has been asked to consider dropping charges but “no one wants to take the blame for anything”.

“I don’t want Sal in jail, that’s for sure … but I don’t think anyone would be asking me to drop the charges if my mum was still in a coma or if one of the kids got hurt,” he said.

Mr Elamine said his mother suffered internal bleeding and concussion.

Noah (left) and Lahela with their father Ali Elamine in their family home in Beirut. Picture: Reuters/Mohamed Azakir

The Melbourne shock jock Neil Mitchell also said the 60 Minutes crew behind bars should be a wake-up call for other current affairs programs.

“They have to stop playing with people’s lives — they all do it,” he said this morning.

“But current affairs TV can be brutal, heartless, exploitative and manipulative. Sometimes it professes to care for people, while exploiting them.

“As I said, they all do it, but this might be a wake-up call.”

Tara Brown, her 60 Minutes colleagues and Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner will spend at least another two nights behind bars in Beirut after Monday’s hearing was unexpectedly postponed.

Ms Brown, along with producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, were preparing to learn their fate before a judge at Baabda court on Monday afternoon local time.

The hearing never eventuated and judge Rami Abdullah told reporters the matter would be adjourned until noon on Wednesday. He also had a warning for the defendants, emphasising the seriousness of the situation.

“This is not a custody case,” Judge Abdullah said. “They are charged with kidnapping two kids.”

Tara Brown, Sally Faulkner, others in botched kidnap won't appear today. #60mins

— Jacquelin Magnay (@jacquelinmagnay) April 18, 2016

Judge confirms the case is now adjourned until Wednesday. All of those charged to remain in custody

— Tom Steinfort (@tomsteinfort) April 18, 2016

Judge Abdullah says matter returns to court house 12noon Wednesday.

— Hugh Whitfeld (@hughwhitfeld) April 18, 2016

Tara Brown is escorted from court back to a cell where she will have to spend two more nights along with her fellow team members. Picture: Diego Ibarra Sanchez/Getty Images.

Police escort Australian Sally Faulkner, the mother of the Elamine children, and Australian reporter Tara Brown, to Lebanon's Baabda Prison for women, after their trial was adjourned. Picture: Reuters/Mohamed Azakir

Brown was escorted to and from court by Lebanese police. Picture: AFP/Marwan Tahtah

The group is facing charges including kidnapping, physical assault, hiding information and criminal conspiracy.

They were detained on April 7 along with Ms Faulkner and members of a child abduction team over a kidnapping attempt involving Ms Faulkner’s two children.

The children were living in Lebanon with their father, Ali Elamine, when agents from Child Abduction Recovery International, including founder Adam Whittington, attempted a daylight abduction that went horribly wrong.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Elamine insisted he will go ahead with charges against his ex-wife and all others involved. He refused a request to drop the charges, saying he could not risk allowing the 60 Minutes crew to escape punishment by letting Ms Faulkner off the hook.

“I said I will charge everyone involved,” the 32-year-old told reporters outside the court.

“The way they are trying to push for this is that if Sally goes out on bail, they all get out. That is how I am seeing it as an outsider. ... They are pushing for Sal’s release and everyone else gets a green card. (Nine) dropped the ball by getting involved in family matters (and now) everyone is blaming the other for what happened.”

A plainclothes policeman prevents her from looking towards waiting journalists. Picture: AP Photo/Hussein Malla.

Brown leaves court. Picture: EPA/Wael Hamzeh

Tara Brown, Stephen Rice, David Ballment and Ben Williamson were expected to appear before a Beirut court on Monday night AEST.

Mr Elamine did, however, admit that his children want to live in Australia with their mum.

“They’re kids, they always want what they don’t have,” he told Fairfax.

“When you take kids to a toy store they want the whole store. Am I open (to letting the children travel to Australia?) I’m not 100 per cent sure about that.”

Mr Whittington was expected to present documents in court on Monday showing Channel Nine paid him directly to get Ms Faulkner’s children back.

He says he received two internet transfers of funds from the Nine Network — the first for 40 per cent of the agreed fee of more than $115,000, and then a second for the remaining 60 per cent several months ago.

Channel Nine’s director of news, Darren Wick, responded by saying he was “expecting there to be some attacks on [the] network”.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop spoke to The Project about the 60 Minutes saga on Monday night. She said the Australians detained were being treated well.

“I am in constant communications with my counterpart in Lebanon, to seek updates and make suggestions but there are legal proceedings under way, so I have to be careful about any public statements I make,” she said.

“This is what I do, I try to make representations in the interests of Australian citizens with authorities in the country they’re being detained ... What I seek to do is assist people who need help. Clearly, that’s the situation here.”

A still image of CCTV footage of the sting gone wrong in Lebanon.

The families of the jailed 60 Minutes crew released a statement on Sunday.

In the joint statement provided to news.com.au, partners of those detained said they were comforted by the knowledge their loved ones were in “good health” and “being well looked after” by Lebanese authorities.

“This is a living nightmare. It’s hard to imagine it could be any tougher,” the statement read.

Donald Rothwell, professor of International Law at the Australian National University, told news.com.au those involved should acknowledge wrongdoing if they wish to escape prison time.

“What I’d say is that a distinction is likely to be made between Sally Faulkner and the other parties involved, including the child recovery team,” Prof Rothwell said.

“There’s some prospect that Sally might have her charges downgraded to a misdemeanour but the people from 60 Minutes and the child recovery service at face value seem to have been engaged in a commercial operation to abduct children and there appears to have been some act of violence involved.

“The Lebanese authorities would take a dim view of foreigners seeking to take Lebanese nationals in the way that apparently has occurred. Any effort to acknowledge they were in the wrong would be beneficial.”

Twitter: @Ro_Smith