Court extends travel ruling against Russian woman who abducted Maltese son

A court has prohibited a Russian mother, who had disappeared with her seven-year-old son whilst on holiday in the Czech Republic, from taking the boy out of the country until he reaches adulthood

The court noted that the parents had entered into a contract which granted the father permanent custody in the interests of the child
The court noted that the parents had entered into a contract which granted the father permanent custody in the interests of the child

A court has prohibited a Russian mother, who had disappeared with her seven-year-old son whilst on holiday in the Czech Republic, from taking the boy out of the country until he reaches adulthood.

The case had attracted a great deal of media attention in January last year, when the boy's father had publicly appealed to the authorities to help secure the return of his son, who had been abducted by the boy's mother.

The seven-year-old child and his mother had disappeared during a family holiday in Prague on 1 December 2015 and ceased all communication with the father. On 15 of that month the Maltese courts had issued an injunction against the mother, granting the custody of the boy to the father and prohibiting her from taking the boy out of Malta.

However, a Czech Court did not approve the boy’s return to Malta and also did not grant the father a temporary right of access to the child.

The son was found at the Polish border on 29 January last year when his mother had been stopped whilst trying to cross into Belarus, allegedly intending to travel to Russia, where the father would have little hope of seeing his son again. The father and son were reunited the next day, when the boy was returned to Malta.

The father requested the family court, presided by judge Abigail Lofaro, to grant him sole custody of the child, and order the Director of Passports to issue a child passport to the boy, as well as to permanently ban the mother from taking the child out of the country, or allow anyone else bar the father to do so.

The court noted that the parents had entered into a contract which granted the father permanent custody in the interests of the child and upheld his request to extend the injunction against the mother until the boy reaches the age of majority.

Lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar represented the woman, who was not present for the proceedings.

Lawyers Edward Debono and Stephen Thake represented the father.