The Mount Lebanon first investigating judge, Nicolas Mansour, issued contradictory arrest warrants for the suspects arrested in the TikTokers’ pedophile case at the end of the first hearing he devoted to their interrogation on Tuesday.
Their lawyers had presented formal defects at the start of the hearing.
Judge Mansour also issued arrest warrants in absentia for several suspects at large. To date, 15 people have been arrested in this case.
Moreover, he has asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Cassation to ask Interpol to issue a red notice for suspects, some of whom are abroad.
As a reminder, the Public Prosecutor’s Office received a complaint over a month ago from the parents of eight minors who had been sexually abused and forced to take drugs.
Agents from the cybercrime office had managed to identify some 30 people who were part of a network that used the TikTok application to “lure their prey,” children and teenagers.
The detainees included a hairdresser, the owner of a clothing store, a dentist and a young girl who enticed children and teenagers onto the application and delivered them to members of the network.
On Wednesday, the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Jamal Hajjar sent two letters rogatory to the Swedish and Emirati authorities. In the first, he requested the arrest of the Lebanese Paul Meouchi, nicknamed Jay, based in Sweden, and in the second, he asked the Dubai authorities to arrest the Lebanese Peter Naffah.
