A hand holding a smartphone displaying the TikTok logo (Illustration photo from AFP)
BEIRUT — The case of a lawyer suspected of involvement in a child pornography network run on TikTok was transferred to Judge Nicolas Mansour, the examining magistrate for Mount Lebanon, on Friday, a judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The lawyer, a member of the bar in Tripoli, was arrested on May 28 by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) intelligence unit in connection with with network, which was exposed in April. He failed to respond to a summons at the ISF cyber crime office, despite the fact that the Tripoli Bar Council had waived his immunity.
The public prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Tanios Saghbini, issued a search warrant for the lawyer, eventually resulting in his arrest. He was questioned for two days before Saghbini decided to initiate proceedings against him and transfer his case to Judge Mansour.
The aforementioned judicial source said the lawyer was the sixteenth person to be arrested in the case. Three suspects were arrested 10 days ago, including a stylist in Dbayeh, Metn.
The arrests started in May, after investigations revealed a group of people who used TikTok to lure teenagers, who were raped on video. The footage of the rapes were sold on the dark web.
Among those arrested are a hairdresser, a ready-to-wear retailer famous on TikTok, a dentist, a photographer, a cab driver, and a man who was responsible for transferring money between the members of the group. Four minors were also arrested.
The suspects face charges of rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and money laundering, among other charges.
Mansour was meant to question five of the suspects on May 28, but they filed formal objections, resulting in a postponement. The magistrate extended their provisional arrest and they are expected remain detained until the outcome of their appeals is decided next week.
The judge's verdict will be subject to appeal to the Mount Lebanon Indictment Chamber. The source explains that Judge Mansour has called on all other detainees wishing to submit similar appeals to do so in the near future, so that he can decide on them simultaneously, in order to speed up the investigation.
Mansour also issued on May 28 arrest warrants for three suspects abroad, to be circulated through Interpol. One of the suspects, who finances the network and sells its films, is in Sweden, but is not likely to be handed over, as there is no extradition agreement between Stockholm and Beirut.
However, if he leaves Swedish territory to go to a third country, he could be arrested there, the source explains, especially considering that the crimes of which he is accused are linked to children's rights and human trafficking.
This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le Jour.
