Nine’s million-dollar get-out-of-jail card in Beirut

The 60 Minutes crew and Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner were freed from prison in Beirut after a multimillion-dollar deal.

The four imprisoned members of the 60 Minutes crew were freed from prison in Beirut on bail last night after a multimillion-dollar deal was struck to drop abduction charges against them arising from the botched kidnapping operation on April 6.

The deal was sealed after a teary plea from Nine Network cameraman Ben Williamson.

The 60 Minutes crew are expected to arrive in Sydney this evening after arriving in Dubai earlier today.

However, questions have now been raised about the backroom negotiations that excluded other members of the alleged kidnap plot.

And Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner, Brown and the 60 minutes crew face an anxious couple of weeks before the prosecuting Judge Rami Abdullah decides what the indictment may be and they may have to return to Lebanon to defend any kidnapping and conspiracy charges.

Chief planner of the kidnap operation Adam Whittington and one of the operatives Craig Michael are still facing charges.

Joe Karam, the lawyer for Mr Whittington and Mr Michael, said it was not appropriate for Nine to ­exclude others involved in the ­operation from its deal-making.

“It is not appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange a deal and not include the men they asked to execute it,” said Mr Karam.

Whittington says he has given the judge evidence of alleged direct payments from Channel Nine to his company’s account to pay for the kidnap plot.

Ms Faulkner has also been released on bail and is expected to remain in Lebanon for another day in order to see Lahela, 5 and Noah, 3.

She has agreed to relinquish all custodial rights to her two children involved in the botched operation, grant husband Ali Elamine a divorce and give up ­a custodial applicatio­n in the Family Court in Australia.

She will be able to visit the children in Lebanon or an agreed third country, but not Australia.

There was speculation last night that Mr Elamine, who had previously been accused of holding the parties to ransom by waiting for a significant financial settlement, may have received a payout in the “low single-digit millions”, but Mr Elamine said he “did not sign anything, did not get anything”.

A Nine Network spokeswoman declined to disclose a figure.

Australian TV journalist Tara Brown, left, and Sally Faulkner, right, sit in a minivan after they are released from a Lebanese jail. Picture: AP

The 60 Minutes crew are expected to arrive in Sydney later today after touching down in Dubai this morning.

Brown said the first thing she did was to call her husband John McAvoy, but had yet to speak to her children.

“I had a chance to call John. I was ordered to call home straight away, Brown told Nine News.

“I can’t wait to speak to them [the children] obviously, although they have no idea about any of this. It’s great to talk to home and it’s great to be going home.”

Ms Faulkner said she was just glad to be out of prison, telling Nine: “I mean they treated us well, I can’t complain about that, it’s just the uncertainty that sort of kept me awake at night, not knowing if it was going to be a life-long sentence.”

Frantic efforts

Nine executives worked to get paperwork and compensation payments done in time so that Brown, producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Ballment and Williamson could walk free just hours after Mr Elamine and his mother, Ibtissma Berri, agreed to drop kidnapping charges against the crew.

Brown walked free from Baabda womens prison at 4.38pm local Beirut time yesterday afternoon and joined the curtained off van that had earlier picked up cameraman Ben Williamson, sound recordist David Ballment and producer Stephen Rice.

Australian embassy officials were also in the van which pulled up to prevent the waiting international media from obtaining footage of Brown and embarked on a mad dash to the Beirut airport where the crew went through the VIP channel.

Channel Nine has gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent their staff from talking to the media, organising with prison authorities special access to the detention centre and the prison areas so they could get the crew out and film exclusive interviews.

Brown remained mute in the short walk from the prison that had been her home for two weeks, refusing to answer a simple question about how she felt about her release.

Tara Brown, leaves the women's prison. Picture: Getty

Mr Elamine said he was happy to let his wife and the TV crew ­return to the worried families.

“Sally did this out of motherly love. It just came to a scenario where if we dropped the case off Sal we had to drop the case off people who were not physically involved,’’ he said.

“At the end of the day it’s all for the kids. Down the line the kids might say: ‘Why did you keep Mum in jail?’ I don’t want that upon me. It’s for the best.”

He said he ­dropped the charges against the TVcrew ­because the judge felt that they were not personally responsible for the kidnapping at the southern Beirut bus stop and that he felt “a man-to-man kinship’’ with Ballment and Williamson in particular. Three of the crew were not at the scene when the kidnap took place.

“Ben (Williamson) was a bit emotional and the sound recordist too and I put myself in their place: Ben was frustrated because he wasn’t seeing his own kids and I felt bad about that,’’ Mr Elamine said.

He maintained his personal charges against the planner of the operation, Whittington, and his crew: Michael, ­Mohammed Hamza and Khaled Barbour.

Ms Faulkner, Brown and the 60 Minutes crew may have to return to Lebanon and potentially face further kidnapping and conspiracy charges from the state.

Judge Rami Abdullah said he was still investigating the case despite the 60 Minutes crew and Ms Faulkner being released on bail.

“A crime has happened and everyone has a role in this affair,” Judge Abdullah said. He insisted that if formal charges were laid the crew had to return in person to Lebanon to face the charges.

Australian cameraman Ben Williamson (R) and sound recordist David Ballment (L) after being released on bail. Picture: AFP

‘Somehow we reached a deal’

There were signs of jubilation in the corridors of the Baabda ­Palace of Justice when the deal was finally lodged. Nine’s lawyer Kamal Abu Zahr hugged Australian diplomat Maggie Nunan. Nine director of news Darren Wick appeared relaxed and ­relieved.

Ms Faulkner, Brown, Williamson, Rice and Ballment faced charges including kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, which carry a maximum 20-year jail sentence. They planned to return to Australia within hours of their release.

Ms Faulkner and Brown have been held in the Baabda women’s prison for the past fortnight, and both have repeatedly said they were treated well by authorities.

But the male members of the 60 Minutes crew, along with the Child Abduction Recovery International team, have been held together­ in an underground cell designed for a single person and there had been growing concerns for their health and welfare, especially Mr Michael­, who had been taken to hospital with a stomach bug.

Ms Faulkner’s lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab described the deal as “very positive”.

“Somehow we reached a deal,” he said. Ms Faulkner had agreed to relinquish custody and would drop the custody arrangements registered in the Family Court.

Mr Elamine’s lawyer Hussein Berjawi also confirmed that an agreement had been reached but claimed the deal did not ­involve any money changing hands.

Joe Karam, the lawyer for Mr Whittington and Mr Michael, said it was not appropriate for Nine to ­exclude others involved in the ­operation from its deal-making.

“I am confused they didn’t ­include the people they asked to do the operation,” he said.

“They were all a team: they came all ­together, they should leave all ­together.’’