Australian film crew charged with kidnapping children in Lebanon

An Australian film crew, who was arrested in relation to an international abduction, has been formally charged with kidnapping.

The crew from Australian current affairs show 60 Minutes, including veteran reporter Tara Brown, producer Steven Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, were detained last Wednesday in Beirut, Lebanon.

It has been alleged they were involved with a botched attempt to retrieve two Australian children, aged 3 and 5, who had been taken to the country by their father last year in a custody dispute.  Read more…