Justin Bieber summoned by Argentine court over alleged club assault

An Argentine court has ordered pop star Justin Bieber to appear before it within two months to face questions about an alleged assault on a photographer at a Buenos Aires nightclub last year, state-run news agency Telam reported on Thursday.

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The photographer, Diego Pesoa, accused Bieber and one of his bodyguards of lashing out at him when he tried to take a picture of the Canadian singer as he left the club in the capital's trendy Palermo Hollywood neighbourhood.

Telam said the magistrate, Facundo Cubas, had requested the assistance of Argentina's Interpol branch to help locate Bieber, who has had a string or run-ins with the law in several countries.

Bieber should be detained if he failed to appear or failed to explain why he was unable to present himself before the court, Telam cited Cubas as saying.

"Bieber has to come to Argentina, and it won't be to sing," Pesoa's lawyer, Matias Morla, told local TV channel C5N.

There was no immediate reaction from Bieber's representatives to the report.