Australian ‘60 Minutes’ crew charged with kidnapping in Beirut, face 20 years’ jail after bungled bid to snatch two children
The case will now be examined by the prosecutor general, who is likely to issue indictments in preparation for a trial
At least nine people, including a former UK-based detective turned “child recovery specialist”, an Australian “60 Minutes” TV crew and an Australian woman accused of an attempted kidnapping of her two children have been charged in Lebanon with crimes that carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and hard labour.
A Lebanese judicial source said the suspects have been charged with “armed abduction, purveying threats and physical harm,” accusations that carry sentences of between seven and 20 years.
Investigative judge Rami Abdullah referred the case to the prosecutor general after he and Lebanese police questioned the suspects. The case will now be examined by the prosecutor general, who is likely to issue indictments in preparation for a trial.
Adam Whittington, a former Scotland Yard detective described by a UK court as a “mercenary”, is accused of leading the operation that allegedly saw the children snatched from a street in Beirut last week and briefly reunited with their mother, Sally Faulkner.
Whittington, Faulkner and five others, including a journalist from the Australian current affairs programme 60 Minutes, were arrested by Lebanese authorities after the alleged abduction. The children were later returned to their father.