Argentine arrest warrant issued for Bieber

Just when it seemed like Justin Bieber was leaving his bad boy phase behind him, an old incident is catching up with the singer.

On Friday, a judge in Argentina issued a warrant for Bieber on the grounds that he has not responded to summons for a 2013 case in which he allegedly ordered his bodyguards to attack a photographer.

Judge Alberto Julio Banos ordered the "immediate detention" of Bieber and bodyguards Hugo Alcides Hesny and Terrence Reche Smalls.

Bieber is accused of sending the bodyguards to attack photographer Diego Pesoa outside a Buenos Aires nightclub. Bieber never returned to Argentina to respond to questions about the incident.

Under Argentine law, Bieber would face from one month to six years in prison if convicted on a charge of causing injuries.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the warrant would extend beyond Argentina. Calls to the judge's office Friday afternoon were not answered.

In comments to local station Telefe Noticias, Pesoa's lawyer implied that the warrant would force Bieber to return to the South American country.

"Now we just need to wait for the police to find him and bring him" to Argentina, said lawyer Matias Morla. "For us, this is a triumph against all those who said this case was a bluff and that we didn't have anything."

Neither Bieber's representative nor Morla returned messages left by the Associated Press.