The Attorney General for Mount Lebanon, Judge Tanius Al-Saghbini, has concluded the preliminary investigations with the TikTokers gang involved in child sexual abuse, drug use, and trafficking. He is set to file charges against all 26 suspects identified, including ten currently detained, following the arrest of a new accomplice on Tuesday night. The Cybercrime Bureau will continue its investigations to uncover the identities and crimes of all those involved with this network, whose identities and crimes have not yet been established.
Awaiting surprises in terms of names or criminal acts in the prosecution's findings, a source familiar with the case revealed to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the Attorney General will accuse the heads and members of the network of criminal offenses and seek severe penalties that correspond to the committed crimes. The accusations against them are already becoming clear: child rape, threats, extortion, filming victims during the assaults, distributing these images on applications used by the perpetrators, and marketing them for sale to others.
The source confirmed that the charges will also include accusations against gang leaders for drugging the child victims to facilitate the crimes, forcing them to use drugs under threat and torture, and blackmailing them with images taken to exploit them in drug trafficking.
The number of detainees in this case has risen to ten individuals, after security forces arrested another person on Wednesday. Informed sources told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that this new detainee acted as a financial link between the gang's financiers abroad and its members inside the country, indicating that he received money transferred to him from abroad and delivered it to the gang in Lebanon.
This development was accompanied by the issuance of a search notice and a warrant for the suspect Hassan Sanger, who is reportedly outside Lebanese territory and traveled to Switzerland in mid-March. The sources noted that the Attorney General has sent a letter to the General Directorate of General Security, inquiring whether Sanger has left Lebanon and when he departed, emphasizing the need to arrest him if he returns.
While there were rumors that Sanger served as an informant for security agencies and provided important information about the gang's operations, a judicial source stated that the issuance of the arrest warrants against Sanger came after a testimony from one of the child victims, who recognized Sanger's photo and confirmed that he was part of the network that helped lure and sexually assault him and other children.
"Asharq Al-Awsat" reported that Judge Al-Saghbini has not yet decided to arrest lawyer Khaled M., suspected of involvement in the child abuse case, due to the absence of permission from the Bar Association in northern Lebanon; the head, Sami Al-Hassan, is outside the country, and the Bar Council has been unable to meet in his absence to grant permission for prosecution. The Bar Association announced in a statement that it supports all judicial actions taken in this case and rejects any harm to childhood.
The sources indicated that Al-Saghbini has completed the correspondence that he will send to Interpol to request the arrest of those believed to be leaders and members of the network located outside of Lebanon. This correspondence will be delivered to the Public Prosecutor, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, who will then send it to the Interpol office of the Internal Security Forces to be disseminated and issue a red notice through international Interpol.
Social media in Lebanon is buzzing with discussions and demands to block the TikTok application in Lebanon, following its use by a gang involved in extorting minors. In the context of government measures, the media office of the Minister of Telecommunications confirmed that the Ministry of Telecommunications requires a court order to block any application, including TikTok or others, per legal protocols.
The Ministry also stated that it is an executive authority, and it is obligated to implement any court ruling regarding the prohibition or non-prohibition of any application, meaning that the Minister of Telecommunications has no individual authority to decide on the prohibition of any application. The Ministry indicated that it possesses the technical ability to stop and block the application effectively. Therefore, should a court decision be made in this regard, the Ministry will apply it.
Minister al-Qurm emphasized the importance of parental supervision over their children, improving relationships with them, and building bridges of trust, which contributes to protecting their children from becoming victims of such crimes. He mentioned that there are tools in all applications, including TikTok, that allow parents to manage their children's screen time and block inappropriate content, and that the application's management can provide suitable training to guide parents on the application.
