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RUSSIA: ?Lawful? Child Kidnapping

By Jeremy Morley

img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242552626914962418" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ySg-RK3MUak/SMFJ1oOOq_I/AAAAAAAAA5g/1tephfJVQFE/s200/Russia+doll.jpg" border="0" / span style="color:black;"The article below in today's Daily Telegraph illustrates the grave dangers that may arise when children visit ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Russia/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:country-region/st1:place:/span p class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"An 11-year-old British girl has been left stranded in st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"Russia/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:place/st1:country-region after her biological father obtained a Court Order preventing her from leaving the country until she is 18./span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"Victoria Osborne, who was visiting her grandmother in st1:place st="on"st1:city st="on"st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Saratov/st1:place/st1:city/st1:city/st1:place with her mother Tatiana, was prevented from boarding a plane home despite neither of them being given notice of the Order. Officials told her that her natural father, Colonel Yuri Gladkikh, had obtained the Order which under Russian law allows divorced parents to block their children leaving the country until they are 18. It was designed to help separated parents with access to their children./span/pp class="MsoNormal"st1:state st="on"span style="color:black;"Victoria/span/st1:statespan style="color:black;"'s stepfather, Patrick Osborne, 52, is now preparing for a legal battle to bring her home to st1:place st="on"st1:city st="on"st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Winchester/st1:place/st1:city/st1:city/st1:place, Hants. It is believed that they are in negotiations with Colonel Gladkikh over the ownership of a flat in st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Saratov/st1:place/st1:city/st1:place/st1:city. /span?xml:namespace prefix = o /o:p/o:p/p?xml:namespace prefix = u1 /u1:p/u1:pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"He said: "We know it is not going to be easy, but we are determined to get our family back together. This order came totally out of the blue. When we go over there to see Tatiana's family Mr Gladkikh knows exactly where we are because his mother lives in the same village."/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"Mr Osborne, a Civil Engineering lecturer at st1:place st="on"st1:placename st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:placename st="on"Southampton/st1:placename/st1:place st1:placetype st="on"st1:placetype st="on"University/st1:placetype/st1:placetype/st1:placename/st1:place, said the first he knew about the situation was last Thursday when his wife telephoned him in tears from the airport. He said: "She was crying her eyes out saying that they couldn't get out of the country. She is getting increasingly distressed and it's going to get harder and harder the longer it goes on for her. Vicka is a confident, happy girl and she is dealing with this as best she can. It is unbelievable that any parent, however far-removed from daily upbringing, would deny his child the right to a good education, access to her home and friends. This is totally immoral."/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"Mrs Osborne, 34, and Colonel Gladkikh split up eight years ago. She married Mr Osborne three years later after they met while he was working in Russia.Although his wife and step daughter are British citizens the pair travelled on Russian passports, making them subject to the country's law.Mrs Osborne is free to leave the country but said she will not return without st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Victoria/st1:place/st1:state/st1:place/st1:state, who was due to start secondary school yesterday. Mrs Osborne said she separated from Colonel Gladkikh in January 2001 and divorced him in October 2002./span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"?This is a terrifying ordeal and we are completely devastated. The possibility that Vicka will be forced to remain here, away from her friends and family, for the rest of her childhood is very scary for her," she said. "When we first went to see him (Colonel Gladkikh) he said Vicka should be near him in st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Russia/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:country-region. He said she could stay with her grandmother where he could visit her.? She claimed he later told her he would lift the order if she voluntarily gave up registration on the £35,000 flat they own, where st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Victoria/st1:place/st1:state/st1:place/st1:state was born, so that he could sell it. She said she was prepared to do that after receiving written guarantees he would not go back on his word.br //spanspan style="color:black;"/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"She added: ?Quite simply, it's blackmail. Vicka is trapped here and she feels so betrayed to be used like an object of trade. It is immoral. To think he is a high ranking officer in the Russian army, trusted with defending the country, and this is how he treats his child.?/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"Speaking from st1:city st="on"st1:city st="on"Saratov/st1:city/st1:city, Mrs Osborne, who is carrying out research at st1:placename st="on"st1:placename st="on"Birmingham/st1:placename/st1:placename st1:placetype st="on"st1:placetype st="on"University/st1:placetype/st1:placetype to improve cultural understanding between st1:country-region st="on"st1:country-region st="on"Britain/st1:country-region/st1:country-region and st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"Russia/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:place/st1:country-region, said: "We are absolutely devastated. Had we known about this restriction we would never have gone to st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Russia/st1:place/st1:country-region/st1:place/st1:country-region this summer. It's a catastrophe. Our family is broken apart and Vicka is not at school. She was so much looking forward to it. This is a betrayal by her biological father." /spano:p/o:p/pu1:p/u1:pp class="MsoNormal"span style="color:black;"The family could face a lengthy court battle if the order is not voluntarily withdrawn by Mr Gladkikh.They have sought help from the British Embassy in Russia but have been told there is little they can do as they were travelling on Russian passports./span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:78%;"Daily Telegraph, Sept. 4, 2008/spano:p/o:p/pp class="MsoNormal"o:p/o:p/p

Full post as published by International Family Law on September 05, 2008 (boomark / email).