It’s been 12 days since Tara Brown and her 60 Minutes colleagues were detained by Lebanese authorities because of their involvement in the botched kidnapping of Australian mum Sally Faulkner’s children.
While Channel Nine maintains the crew is in “good spirits and coping well”, details have emerged of the overcrowded, dirty and difficult conditions of their incarceration.
The man in charge of the failed abduction, Adam Whittington, one of several others facing charges over the incident, says he and the 60 Minutes’ Stephen Rice, Ben Williamson and David Ballmen are sharing a cramped underground cell, designed for one person.
“The rats are as big as cats, it is so small we can’t move, and the toilet in the ground is blocked,” he told The Australian of Beirut’s Baabda detention centre in an exclusive interview.
Tara Brown, Stephen Rice, Ben Williamson and David Ballmen. Source: 60 Minutes
Whittington also said if it weren't for food delivered to the group by their lawyers every day they'd be starving.
"If it wasn’t for that we would be starving, because you get pita bread once a day and a meal only every three days," he said.
Brown and Faulkner are being held in a separate women's facility nearby, where up to ten women sleep in cells roughly three by five metres.
Prisoners are allowed two hours of sunlight each day and exercise on the roof, according to Fairfax who visited the prison over the weekend.
The women sleep in bunks and each has a small closet for their belongings, the report explained.
On Monday fresh food is delivered, including tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, rice, potatoes and fruits, which the prisoners cook for themselves. Like the men, they are also allowed to have food brought to them.
Deodorant is not permitted, but shampoo and conditioner is allowed, as long as it's kept in transparent bottles.
Brown said she was being "very well-treated", according to an update from 60 Minutes Ross Coulthart delivered at the end of last night's program.
Watch it here (post continues after video):
"We are working relentlessly to bring them home and we acknowledge the strong support of their families in helping us do that," Coulthart reassured audiences.
"We want you to know that every possible effort is being made to ensure our team's well being as they go through the legal process."
Meanwhile, Whittington said he and his cell mates were getting along well and keeping each other entertained with jokes and funny anecdotes.
"They are a bunch of great guys," he said. "All we want to do is get home."
Feature image:60 Minutes
Top Comments
Anyone who has an understanding of the Middle East, would have advised 60 minutes not to touch this with a barge pole... Actually paying for children to be kidnapped... Seriously... You deserve time in prison for your stupidity.. Your only hope is if the dad accepts compensation payment... And I hope he charges a million a head..
I wonder how many people who are critical of 60 Minutes and the mother would not have done exactly the same thing if they were ever in Sally Faulkner's situation?
Honestly, not many. The current situation clearly showing why.
Just saw on the news that the father admits the kids want to live with their mother. He then made an absurd comparison and pretty much made fun of his kids. Regardless of the outcome, these kids will end up hating him in the end if he's not careful. But he would already know that, which makes his motivations all the more clear to me now. Poor kids and poor Sally!
My husband currently works and lives overseas but has Australian PR through me. We're happily married but if this situation happened to me, I honestly think I would just fake the relationship i.e. Butter him up just to get him to agree to joint custody. I really think that would be the best option.
You mean lie to your husband about taking the kids to Australia to see their grandparents for a holiday and then tear up their passports, or do you mean hiring gunmen?