Beirut judge gets tough: it’s a kidnapping case

The judge in the Beirut child snatching scandal warns of seriousness of charges as first pictures of Tara Brown emerge.

Australian Mother and TV Crew Face Lebanese Court Over Child Abduction Attempt

The judge presiding over the ­Beirut child snatching scandal ­involving the 60 Minutes TV crew last night warned of the seriousness of the charges, saying “this is not a custody case, they are involved in kidnapping two kids’’.

“They are all facing criminal charges,’’ Judge Abdullah stipulated as he adjourned the case until ­tomorrow.

He had been poised to question reporter Tara Brown and Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner, but addressed them for less than a minute before he agreed to a delay to enable more negotiations between the parties.

Brown and Ms Faulkner were handcuffed into the court, both wearing black shirts and jeans and showing little emotion and saying nothing.

60 Minutes ‘kidnapping saga’

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On the way out Brown turned her head and gave a small stoic half smile.

Police had escorted the two women into the court by a side entrance and then, to avoid the waiting media, took them out the front to a waiting police car.

A Lebanese plainclothes policeman prevents Ms Brown from looking towards journalists. Picture: AP

Earlier, Ms Faulkner’s Lebanese-American former husband conceded his children “probably” wanted to be with their mother, but he hardened his stand against 60 Minutes over the TV program’s role in the botched attempt to snatch them.

Arriving at the chaotic Beirut courthouse, Ali Elamine said the news program should not have become involved in a family dispute. “They dropped the ball big- time (by becoming involved) in family matters,” he said.

Refusing to publicly support his wife’s application for bail, he indicated an obstacle to any deal was that the others involved in the snatch attempt could benefit.

“The way they’re trying to push for this is if Sally goes out on bail, everyone else is released automatically,” he said.

The lack of consensus ­between the couple over issues such as visiting rights for Ms Faulkner reduces the chances of a speedy resolution.

Brown is bundled into a car after her court appearance.

Ms Faulkner, Brown, the Nine Network crew and a paid child recovery team have been behind bars for almost two weeks.

Asked if his children wanted to be with their mother in Australia, Mr Elamine said: “Probably. They’re kids. They always want what they don’t have at the ­moment.”

There was no way the children would be allowed to visit their mother in Australia, he said.

“You tell me, under the current circumstances, what would you think,” Mr Elamine said.

“They have new passports, the media is on it. I’m pretty sure someone from the government is involved.”

He denied he had stopped his wife seeing the children, saying “she never flew in, she wanted to see them via Skype”.

Mr Elamine had cut off communication with his wife before the ­recovery attempt because he had seen emails on her account, which she had left open on the children’s iPad.

“It wasn’t that I was trying to be mean as a father, it was that I could see there was another plan,” he said.

“I know she sent a bunch of emails around. Did I know it was going to happen like this? No.

“Her lawyer can say whatever he wants. I’ve seen her lawyer say a bunch of stuff that’s out of this world.”

Asked who he felt was ultimately responsible for the recovery attempt, he said: “It was all a big mess. Everyone was pushing for stuff for different reasons.” The 60 Minutes team of Brown, Stephen Rice, David Ballment and Ben Williamson, along with the Child Abduction Recovery team of Adam Whittington, Mohammad Hamza and Khaled Barbour, and Faulkner could face jail terms of between two and 20 years for the botched kidnapping at a southern Beirut bus stop.

Lawyers for the parties met behind closed doors yesterday while they waited for the investigating judge to hear the case.

But before the hearing, Nine’s local lawyer Kamal Abu Dahr emerged from the meeting and said Mr Elamine appeared to want to escalate the situation rather than solve it.

“We went into the meeting wanting to reach an agreement. Ali’s lawyer replied that ‘we are not in a hurry’,” he said.

Mr Elamine also claimed the media treatment of the story ­before the kidnap attempt and ­afterwards was slanted to portray him in a bad light, including an A Current Affair story that broadcast parts of a Skype conversation and erroneous reports claiming he was a fighter for Islamic State.

Mr Elamine’s lawyer last night said no deal had been reached ­between the couple but denied the father was seeking a compensation payout.

The case continues.