A judge has recommended Australian woman Sally Faulkner should face kidnap charges over the botched child recovery operation designed to take back her two children from their Lebanese father.
The dual Australian-British national who planned the bungled Beirut operation, Adam Whittington, should also face kidnap charges, Judge Rami Abdullah has recommended.
But the Nine Network journalists and crew involved in the case have avoided criminal charges but will face a court-imposed fine after a trial, most likely for a misdemeanour.
"We have been advised tonight by our legal team in Lebanon that the charges our 60 Minutes crew are facing in Lebanon have been downgraded," a Nine spokesperson said in a statement.
"There will still be a trial on a date to be determined and out of respect for the Lebanese legal process we will not be making any further comment while the matter is still before the court."
The move to charge Faulkner is unexpected as Judge Abdullah has previously stated that he did not believe a mother could be found to have kidnapped her own children.
It is understood the charge of kidnapping attracts a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
Judge Abdullah decided not to proceed with charges of being associated with a criminal gang.
Ms Faulkner's lawyer Ghassan Moughabghab told AAP he would not comment on the judge's decision until he had seen the charges.
There was little chance that Ms Faulkner would be sent back to prison if there is a trial, Mr Moughabghab said earlier this week.
Judge Abdullah conducted a three-month investigation into the actions of 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown, her crew, Ms Faulkner and Whittington's child recovery team.
Ms Faulkner, Brown, producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Ballment and cameraman Ben Williamson were arrested in Beirut on April 6, along with Whittington, his colleague Craig Michaels and two Lebanese men, Khaled Barbour and Mohammed Hamza.
They were taken into custody after Whittington's team snatched Ms Faulkner's two children, Lahela, 5 and Noah, 3 from a busy suburban street, injuring their Lebanese grandmother.
Ms Faulkner says she took the action after her estranged husband took the children on a two-week holiday in May 2015 and did not return them to Australia as promised.
After spending almost two weeks in prison, Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team were released when the children's father, Ali Elamine, agreed to drop personal charges of kidnap against them in return for a significant payout, reportedly up to $A500,000, from Nine.
Ms Faulkner agreed to give up custody of her children in order to obtain her freedom.
Documents provided to the Lebanese court show the network had already paid $A115,000 to Whittington for the recovery of the two children.
Whittington, Michael, Hamza and Barbour remain in Aley Prison on the outskirts of Beirut.
Lawyer Joe Karam has requested bail for Whittington and Michael and a decision is expected on their release on Thursday.
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