Woman who ‘abducted’ her son cannot take him out of country until he is 18

A court has declared that a Russian woman who allegedly abducted her young son and fled during a family holiday cannot take him out of the country until he reaches the age of 18.

The boy was brought back to Malta by his father in January of last year, in a case that was widely publicised.

The man told a family court that he had begun a relationship with the Russian woman 11 years ago and the couple had a son in 2008. In 2015, during a holiday in the Czech Republic, the woman disappeared with the young boy and stopped all communication with his father.

In December 2015, a court had declared that, in the best interest of the child, the father should be granted sole custody. That same month a court had issued an injunction against the woman, barring her from taking, or allowing anyone to take the boy abroad. It also upheld a request for a passport to be issued to the boy.

The father said that, upon being told by the Czech authorities that she could not leave the Czech Republic, the woman fled. The boy was found in Poland on 29 January, 2016, when the woman was arrested on the Bielorussian-Polish border. She was allegedly trying to reach Russia. The boy was returned to his father and the two returned to Malta the following day.

The father requested the court to declare that granting him sole custody of the child was in the boy’s best interests and that the boy should live with him. He also asked the court to order the Director of Passports to issue a child passport to the boy and to permanently ban the mother from taking the child out of the country, or allowing anyone else to do so.

Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro, presiding over the case, was informed that the parties had reached a settlement about the custody of the child and abstained from passing judgement on the first two requests.

On the other hand the court ordered the issuing of a child passport, which is to be handed directly to the father.

It also upheld, partly, the fourth request and declared that the mother cannot, until 2026, when the child reaches the age of 18, take the boy out of the country. Only the father, or any one authorised by him, can take the child over Malta’s borders until that date.

Lawyers Edward Debono and Stephen Thake appeared for the father. Lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar and Legal Procurator Jean Pierre Busuttil represented the woman, who is still living abroad and was not present for the proceedings.