…who
fled from Sweden after authorities put his daughters in Muslim foster family.
By Emma R.
A
court in Poland has decided not to extradite Russian Denis Lisov, who fled with
his children out of the Scandinavian country, to Sweden.
The decision of the Polish court says that the warrant for
the arrest of Lisov, issued by Sweden, violates his civil rights since Lisov
was pushed “to a wall, his children were taken away and the impossible
conditions for their return were pushed forward.”
In 2017
the Swedish authorities took the children from their father when their mother
with schizophrenia was taken to hospital. The guardianship clarified that the
man could not cope with the education of their daughters.
The
children were placed in a foster family of people from Lebanon.
In
March 2019, Lisov took his 12, 6, and 4-year-old daughters, and in April he was
detained with them at the airport in Warsaw while on their way to Russia.
According
to a psychologist’s opinion, the children are very closely attached to their
father and want to live with him.
“They
did not feel safe in the foster family, which might have deepened their stress
and result in disorders”, said the judge, adding that “the father was unable to
watch this and the Swedish authorities’ actions violated the children’s good.
The Swedish authorities’ actions glaringly disregarded the sensitivity of
children coming from a Russian-European family.”
According
to the family’s attorney, the fact that the children were placed in a Muslim
family of Lebanese origin despite being raised in the Christian faith was also
an important factor in Mr Lisov’s decision to escape Sweden taking them with
him.
Now
Denis Lisov is awaiting consideration of his application for refugee status in
Poland. The children are under his care.
By a
court decision, the relevant law enforcement agencies will receive a request
and the international search will be removed from Denis in the near future.
According
to the court decision, not a single European country will extradite Lisov,
arrest will be threatened only in Sweden.
“I am
very pleased with this verdict. We have saved the family. Lisov is a father,
not a criminal. Everyone in Poland: the guardianship authorities, the
prosecutor’s office, the police, the border guards were against the separation
of the family and did not allow this possibility”, said the attorney.
Lisov
himself in conversation with RT did not hide his joy, although, according to
him, he was very worried until the last moment.
He said
that he was pleased with the verdict and would now wait for a decision on
obtaining a residence permit in Poland.
The
Russian expects that his daughters will go to kindergarten and school in Warsaw
already in September.
“Now
the Swedish side has the opportunity to appeal the court’s ruling, but we hope
that they will not do that”, he concluded.
If
extradited Denis Lisov faces four years in prison in Sweden.
This is a case of Sweden bending over backwards to accommodate Muslims and deny family rights to a Christian.
