Family kidnapping: how the Russians are “kidnapped” their own children
In Russian law there is no concept of family abductions — so if one of the parents without warning takes and hides the child or overlaps the other parent access to it, there is virtually no way to resist. Russian service Bi-bi-si figured out how the Russians are fighting for the right to communicate with their own children.
“The girl doesn’t know I’m her mother”
The story of how the former civil husband took her from the house and carried 11-month-old daughter, Alina Bragina says very simply and thoroughly, without strain, and breaks into tears: for five and a half years of searching and vessels of the narrative honed to the last detail.
Father and daughter Gregory Kazan they met in 2006 at a bar watching the world Cup — the same one which in the final Zinedine Zidane butted Materazzi. “Henri Thierry played, we girls were nervous, he saw me and all the while the waiters were sent, so we ordered something. I’m sick of it, I said, “Okay, a liter of juice we bring it”. When he learned that we are not “crystal” order, not “the Widow Clicquot”, but only a liter of juice, very surprised.”
In December 2010, Bragin with Kazan was born a girl (married couple was not involved), in September 2011, according to Bragin, she learned that the civil husband has a mistress, he Packed up and moved with the child back to her mother. Three months later, Gregory of Kazan without warning had taken his daughter: “the Tenth of December was the wedding of my brother, he asked me there. Of course, I loved him very much, I wanted to make things right, and when he asked for it, I as a woman loving and it was nice. He said: “You go to the salon, I still talk to the daughter, then I’m gonna go put on a suit and go to the wedding”. As I drove off the lot, my mother had revealed to him, gave the child in his hands, and went to fiddle with the dishes in the kitchen. Then feels very quiet. Apparently, when the crash cymbal was, they went out, closed the door and left the key in the door.”
Since the ill-fated trip to the beauty salon, my daughter Bragin seen only three times.
What Alina — her own mother, a girl, in December it will be seven, not even suspects.
According to the Family code of Russia, if the parents do not live together, they must agree where you will live their child. If the parents can not agree, the dispute about determination of the place of residence of the child is sent to the court. According to statistics, the conflicts related to raising children, in 2014 there were nearly 35 thousand in 2015, and 36 thousand in the first half of 2016 — almost 17 thousand.
In March 2012, the Golovinskiy district court of Moscow ruled to determine the place of residence of the daughter of Kazan and Bragin with his mother and Kazan ordered the girl to return, and immediately. The decision was appealed, upheld and entered into force. However, the male child did not return, but on the contrary, began to file counter-claims in other courts (including Ingushetia): these processes together with the appeals lasted for the next four years.
The second and third courts again ruled in favor of Alina Bragina, and the last of them, the judge emphasized that “because of the actions of the plaintiff who abuses his rights, violated the rights of the child to know their parents as well as the rights of the mother.” The decision was sustained appeals. But in the fall of 2016 Kazan for the fourth time filed a lawsuit on determining the place of residence with him — this time in his hometown, Bogoroditsk, Tula region, where, according to Alina Bragina, Kazan was listed as the adviser of the General Director of the plant “Resource”. The General Director of the factory his father.
That same autumn Alina Bragina had the opportunity for the first time in five years to see her daughter — October 9, 2016 in shopping centre “seasons”.
Bragin says that the former civil husband “forced to write the scenario of the meeting, as everything will happen”: I say: “You do adequate? I have a child for five years, first view, you think I know what’s going to happen?”.
In addition, a number of conditions: “I wasn’t allowed to touch her, it was impossible to photograph, it was impossible to say who I am. And I went for it, despite the fact that the law is on my side. There were about twenty guards, he thought I’ll bring the bailiffs, the police. But I’m not him, I very much understand the child I haven’t seen for five years. She doesn’t know I’m her mom. I am no enemy to your child, I can not come “here I have the court’s decision, all I care about, to care about that baby I’m taking it”. I am a stranger. So I could do that, I need her to make contact, so she knew me, knew I was not a stranger that I’m okay attitude”.
The meeting went quickly and quietly. First Alina, through the glass, watched as her daughter makes croissants for a cooking class, and then had a short conversation.
I said Hello and asked: what’s your name, how old are you, what do you like to sculpt, croissants or pizza (all of these issues were written in the script). She is very smiling girl, very beautiful, blonde with dark potamiaena Brainmate girls
Virgin, the district court first ruled in favor of Gregory of Kazan, however, in March 2017, the Tula regional court quashed the decision on appeal, re-ordered Kazan to convey to the daughter and gave, according to the lawyer Bragin Maximilian Burov, unprecedented detailed definition 19 leaves: the whole story of the legal battle for the girl and the futile attempts of the mother to bring her home — including details like the one that Kazan have provided proof of income and information on housing, according to which his average monthly income is 21 thousand rubles and while he lives in a house of seven rooms with a swimming pool in the yard. The decision also mentioned that as of 2017 “the figure of the mother in the child’s perception completely replaced the common-law wife father in fact became a foster mother.”
Daughter Alina Bragina has not yet returned.
And in the end of April Bragin “Mail of Russia” with non-existent addresses have come a banned substance, and “three rain — it is as if the marketing goes.” Now Alina is in the status of witness. It suggests that the parcel could take against her ex-husband is a criminal case would allow him more time to sue and for the fifth time to try to win back the child. Gregory himself Kazan denies any involvement and asked to comment on their position, said bi-Bi-si, that his position was set out in the court records.
We sat with Alina Bragina in the kitchen in her Studio apartment, where all these years her daughter is registered. The apartment is on one of the end stations of the Moscow metro — another defendant in many legal decisions: it examined the progress of court cases and was always found fit for the residence of the child. Alina herself — smiling 32-year-old girl with huge black eyes, long hair and graceful tattoos on their hands — perfect impression of inflexibility: “the First two years was incredibly hard, I was scared, I was crying. I floundered like a kitten in a puddle, one, I wouldn’t suggest or help”.
And now for the people who were in the same situation, I’m like a breath of air can in short people to raise from the bottom morally. I have to have other moms, there is support.Alina Brainmate girls
Other moms are the participants of social movement “parents ‘ Rights”. According to its Creator, ex-presenter of a channel World Business Channel Alla, Sheila, who hasn’t seen his own son in the autumn of 2014, abduction of children within the family is a huge problem, “tough topic that nobody wants to climb”, “to fight alone is simply impossible”. The organization advises lawyers and psychologists. In the secret group chat is now a hundred women from all over Russia, just as in the spring of 2016 for advice and assistance about five hundred people. Stories of some unknown, the history of the other — for example, Ludmilla Slovokhotova, Anna Mexicanos, Leyla Murugavel — reported in the media.
In many cases the court has decided to return children to mothers, but no working legitimate ways to make real the return of the child no.
System error
“You know that some of the teachers began to call children “radioactive waste”? Not because they are poorly they are treated, and because it is impossible to touch, — fun says lawyer Alina Bragina Maximilian Boers. — That’s the same concept from police officers: they will do anything just not to enforce the judgment. They are more afraid of complaints from the fathers, because, as a rule, people provided. And they think mom will cry and calm down, but with dad there will be problems”.
According to Russian law, when a court decision is not fulfilled voluntarily, the matter goes to bailiffs. Exactly the same things and in the case of disputes over children. In this case, no special unit responsible for work with minors, as well as clear mechanisms for such cases. As Boers explains, “police officers believe that they can enforce the judgment if the child wants. But, first, it is very difficult to determine the true desires polutoraletnego child. Second, even the court up to 10 years is not obliged to consider children’s views when resolving such disputes. Bailiffs are required the child to transfer. But they come, silently say to dad, “Well, tell the child, well, you tell the child, well, you tell”. Dad, and they leave. Just go.” It happens that it is impossible to find his father. One of the last Executive action Alina Bragina and bailiffs went with the cameras of the TV channel “Tula news service,” so that the process can be seen in detail: I stood at the gate, stood at the entrance to the plant and went home.
The mechanisms by which police officers, according to brown, in fact don’t work: another mother, Leila Murugova — since October 2014, she tries to return two children — has made the recovery from the bailiffs of 50 thousand rubles for inaction, “and any effect it had”.
In addition, officers do not use available tools — an article on administrative responsibility 5.35 of the administrative code.
If the parent fails to comply with the decision of the court, put him first, fine (however, surprisingly small — about 3 thousand roubles), and then maybe arrest up to five days. But, according to Burov, to force officers to bring the father to justice under this article, “you need to go through fire and water: they can’t notify the father, he does not come, then something else. They believe that we have started production on one complaint and not yet finished, we have nothing happens. And endlessly in the court to punish police officers for inaction moms no effort or dneg is not enough.”
As a result, in the struggle for the right to communicate with the children of a resident of Russia even go to the European court of human rights. One example is the case of “Zeleniy against Russia”: a resident of Moscow region, which the husband pushed him out of the house, leaving himself month old son, received a compensation of 10 thousand euros, as as bailiffs more than a year could not execute the court decision. After the ECHR verdict, says Boers, the child was found and handed to the mother immediately.
Specialize in disputes over parenting Maximilian Boers began a year and a half ago.
If in a property dispute act only as a lawyer, primarily as a psychologist. Because mothers are broken, they don’t know what to do, and their actions very much depends.Maximilian Broadfoot Alina Bragina
It is very important, Boers explains that the lawyer understood the specifics of the processes: “And that was the case: the representative of the one mother told her “you better not come to court because you can hit the ceiling”. It’s fatal! The judge needs to see the eyes of the parent who gives the child. As these things do not know?”.
Advocate Boers, young and reckless. Their opponents on the courts he calls “Papini”, and on the website of the lawyer States that can call around the clock. During an interview with the Boers, not without pride rubs his nose: it was broken by unknown in August 2016, just before meeting in the matter of Ludmilla Slovokhotova — she is also suing for son. (Now on the nose, no trace is not visible). Of his specialization he talks about the mission and freely admits that he knows the situation from the inside: he himself with his brother in childhood was taken away from my mother, my father: “the Year our mother was looking for, and she’s a nurse on maternity leave, and the father of the famous translator, mother-in-law attorney with 50 years of experience, the struggle is clearly not equal. Luckily, at some point, he took us to the famous apartment, a neighbor called and said, “There’s literally an hour, I’ll do what I can.”
Borovo was two years old — too early age, to remember the details, but the story has become family legend: “Mom has arrived. She is a candidate master of sports in biathlon, physically superior dad and grandmother. Just busted through the door. There are the bandits, the guards — it’s 1993, it was extended. She sees that they cross all these gangster-type, throws himself on his knees and says: “You Russian people! Russian children, but the Jew!” — dad is Jewish. The bandits say: “So, here’s a support group: girlfriend, older brother we are not missing. And that I’m sorry, she’s mother.” Well, dad gets in the nose, grandma goes to the kitchen and in flight, it takes. This series can be removed”. After the death of his grandmother, adds the Boers, parents “strongly reconciled — the father at me the person in General peace”.
Colleague Burov, lawyer Victoria Dergunova, explains that another legislative gap is that enforcement proceedings in Russia are conducted at the place of residence of the debtor. Accordingly, if an unscrupulous parent to regularly change the place of registration, the case wanders from subject to subject: here the implementation cannot — pass on. One of the women who helped Dergunova, Anna Mexicanos it is exactly this situation: “it is Impossible to execute the court decision, as the father of the child moved. So, even if there is a court decision in favor of one parent, whether mom or dad, the second can in fact with impunity not to exercise. No criminal case is not to have any real sanctions shall not apply. This is a system error”.
Like the Boers, Victoria Dergunova specializiruetsya on litigation because of the children. In addition to the “Rights of parents”, she cooperates with the “Violence.no” (a project against domestic violence) and it looks like the heroine of the series “The Good Wife”: an elegant suit, glasses simply frames. In conversation she uses exclusively neutral “parent” and, she said, helps women, including pro bono — i.e. free of charge: “Because I am the mother.”