The wife of a former Australian soldier turned professional ‘child recovery’ agent has slammed Channel Nine for cutting a deal with Lebanese authorities while her husband remains behind bars.
Karin Whittington, from Sweden, said Nine had the power to help her Australian husband Adam Whittington following a botched child recovery operation in Lebanon earlier this month.
Mrs Whittington said Nine turned its back on Whittington, who she claims was hired to snatch Sally Faulkner’s two children from a street in Beirut, and were happy to leave him rotting in jail along with the rest of his team because it was the ‘easiest’ option, the Guardian reported.
Karin Whittington, from Sweden, said Channel Nine had the power to help her Australian husband Adam Whittington following a botched child recovery operation in Lebanon earlier this month
Father of the children, 32-year-old Ali Elamine, is still pressing charges against Whittington (left and right), who was allegedly in charge of the operation
‘The deal they made was disgusting – they got everyone out and left Adam behind. They paid for him to be there; they were part of his operation,’ she told the Guardian.
‘It’s easy to buy a story and then buy yourself out when there is trouble.’
Father of the children, 32-year-old Ali Elamine, is still pressing charges against Whittington, who was allegedly in charge of the operation, as well as Craig Michael and two Lebanese people involved.
She claims the television station struck a financial deal with Mr Elamine ‘behind Adam’s back’ to have the private charges dropped against the 60 Minutes team – reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson, sound recordist David Ballment.
32-year-old Ali Elamine with five-year-old Lahela (right) and three-year-old Noah (left)
Brown and 60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice arrive at Sydney International Airport on Thursday night
‘I am angry with Channel Nine, I have every right to feel that way. To save their reputation just a little bit, now would be a good time to reach out a hand to Adam, to admit they made a mistake and to correct that mistake.’
Mrs Whittington told the Guardian it hurt to see the Australian television crew, who she claims was planning the operation for months, holding their family members without consequence while she was left to contemplate her husband’s fate.
‘How can they say they are not responsible for anything? It’s not like they jumped the gun and said: ‘Let’s go to Lebanon tomorrow, there’s a good story’. Everyone knows they were planning the operation, and that they paid for it.’
Mrs Whittington told the Guardian it hurt to see the Australian television crew, who she claims was planning the operation for months, holding their family members without consequence while she was left to contemplate her husband’s fate
Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew returned to Australia on Thursday night without her children – five-year-old Lahela and three-year-old Noah – after spending two weeks in a Beirut prison.
Presenter Michael Usher on Sunday night admitted the team had made mistakes and confirmed an internal investigation is underway.
‘There’s one thing we want to state very clearly from the outset: we made mistakes,’ Usher said.
He said the ‘mistakes and failures’ had been ‘the subject of a lot of soul searching here at Channel Nine’.
Usher said the chain of events were ‘complex and distressing’ which had gone ‘badly wrong’.
A review commissioned by the network began on Friday and will investigate the editorial approval and actions of the crew involved in the story.
60 Minutes presenter Michael Usher admitted the Nine Network crew had made ‘mistakes and failures’ which saw their team, including Tara Brown as well as Ms Faulkner, imprisoned for two weeks (Usher and Brown pictured)
A teary-eyed Brown said she did not believe it would get so bad when they originally faced questioning
‘Over the past two weeks we’ve been limited in what we could say,’ Usher said. ‘In the next few weeks we’ll share in detail what we know about this whole sad scenario and our role in it.’
The 60 Minutes presenter said there was ‘relief’ when their team was returned to their families, who landed with Ms Faulkner.
A teary-eyed Brown said she did not believe it would get so bad when they originally faced questioning.
She remembered thinking: ‘We are here just to do a story on a very, very desperate mother.
‘We’re journalists, they’ll understand that. They’ll see reason, you know?
‘I just thought reason would prevail. And it didn’t.’
Brown told Usher it had gone ‘terribly’, but said Ms Faulkner ‘knows in her heart she’s tried everything to get them [the children] back’.
‘In her opinion, she had no choice but to do this.’
Usher said the mother is ‘probably in a worse situation’ now than she was prior to the botched abduction.
Ms Faulkner is reunited with her partner Brendan Pierce (left) and mother, brother and baby to Mr Pierce (right)
‘I’m so amazed at how she’s held up and how strong she’s been because ultimately she’s lost everything, you know? She’s lost her babies,’ Brown said.
Ms Faulkner told 60 Minutes she felt ‘numb’ following the ‘surreal’ incident.
She was reunited with her baby, her mother, her partner Brendan Pierce, and brother Simon.
‘I’m really proud of you, you’re so brave,’ Ms Faulkner’s mother told her.
‘I had to try,’ Ms Faulkner responded.
Her ex-husband agreed to drop the abduction charges if she relinquished custodial rights to their children.
A Lebanese policeman prevents Brown from looking towards journalists while escorting her form a Lebanese courthouse to Baabda Prison for women in Lebanon on April 18
The moment Brown and Ms Faulkner were freed from prison after two weeks behind bars
Ms Faulkner was released on bail on Wednesday along with Ms Brown and her crew.
They could still face further charges though they have returned to Australia.
The children will now live in Lebanon with their father, but Mr Elamine insisted that Ms Faulkner would be able to visit.
She shared an ice-cream with Lahela and Noah before leaving the country.
Mr Elamine said ‘the visit was good’ and that all ‘enjoyed it’.
The charges against the Child Abduction Recovery International team members have not been dropped.
32-year-old Ali Elamine with five-year-old Lahela (right) and three-year-old Noah (left)
Ms Faulkner with their two children in happier times. The Brisbane mother returned to Australia without the children after her botched attempted at getting them back
Sally Faulkner (pictured) was released on bail after relinquishing custodial rights to the children
60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice is reunited with family on Thursday night after landing back in Sydney
60 Minutes cameraman Ben Williamson is reunited with family on Thursday night after spending two weeks in a Lebanese prison cell
Sound recordist David Ballment is reunited with family on Thursday night