Polish Government and Courts put Nationalism and Maternalism before Best interests of the Child

Coalition of Parents of Abducted Children

 MEDIA RELEASE

15^th December 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------

Travesty of Justice 

Australian Child Held Captive in Poland

In October 2007 eleven-month-old Australian child Panagiotis Laskos was abducted from Australia to Poland by his mother, Malgorzata Muchowska.

The child’s father, Sydney restaurateur Dimitrios Laskos, immediately lodged an application for Panagiotis to be returned to Australia under the provisions of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.


A court-ordered psychiatric assessment in Poland concluded that Panagiotis should be returned to Australia as soon as possible.

After losing his case at a Polish local court because the mother did not want to return to Australia – which is not a legitimate reason for refusal under the provisions of the Hague Convention - Mr Laskos appealed to the Polish High Court.


Last week he was told the Polish High Court refused to return Panagiotis to Australia as required under the Hague Convention. The reasons given were:

1) The child doesn't speak English. This is not a legitimate reason under the provisions of the Hague Convention. 

2) The child no longer knows his father. This is not a legitimate reason under the provisions of the Hague Convention.


3) The father lied to the court about his property holdings in Sydney & he is unreliable. This is not relevant under the provisions of the Hague Convention.


Mr Laskos said, “The court asked me for proof that I owned property in Australia and I agreed to provide this information even though it wasn't relevant to the case.  I own a very successful restaurant in Sydney as well as a take-away food business. How can they say I am not reliable!?”

A spokesperson for the Coalition of Parents of Abducted Children (COPAC) said, “The Hague Convention is there to enable children who have been abducted to be reunited with their other parent as quickly as possible and to enable parenting matters to be heard in the courts within the jurisdiction of the child's country of habitual residence, which in this case is Australia”. 

Mr Laskos has traveled to Poland three times to see his son. 

He said, “My wife refused to let me see Panagiotis during the first visit. During the second visit I was only permitted to see him for a short time under the supervision of armed police”. His wife wanted the same condition imposed during his third visit.

Mr Laskos said, “I have no criminal record and have never done anything wrong. Why am I being treated like a criminal when it is my wife who has abducted an Australian Citizen?”  
The COPAC spokesperson said, “International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is not a crime in Australia. This means Mr Laskos has no further legal avenues available to him within Australia such as asking the Australian Government to seek an extradition order. He has also exhausted all legal avenues in Poland”.


“This case highlights the high level of non-compliance many countries display by ignoring their legal obligations under the Hague Convention, as well gaps in Australian legislation” said the spokesperson.

Mr Laskos is now seeking the help of the Australian Government. He wants them to ask the Polish Government to overturn the decision of the Polish High Court on the grounds that their decision is based on reasons that are not valid under the provisions of the Hague Convention.

The spokesperson said, “This decision of the Polish High Court is a travesty of international justice and a blatant breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Australian child is now being held captive within Poland with the full support of the Polish legal system”.


He added, “If this decision is not overturned it will send a message to parental child abductors around the world that all they have to do is get to another country with the child and use that country’s legal system to get what they want”.

Mr Laskos is also exploring the possibility of mounting a case against the Polish Government through the European Court of Human Rights.

ENDS

Spokesperson: Ken Thompson 0417-416-024

Interviews with Dimitrios Laskos: Contact Ken Thompson 0417-416-024

Parental Alienation ~ Divorce Poison ~ Dr. Richard Warshak on 20/20 December 18/09

WATCH DR. WARSHAK ON
ABC 20/20

Friday, December 18, 2009

9-11 p.m. ET; 8-10 p.m. CT

On Friday, December 18, ABC 20/20 will present the fascinating story of an international abduction case involving an alienated child. In preparation for this show, I was interviewed by Chris Cuomo.


During the second taping, I had an opportunity to demonstrate some of the procedures used during Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships.


I expect this show to have a major impact in educating the public about the suffering of children who have been turned against a parent, and about what can be done to help ease a child's transition back to a rejected parent.


Please mark your calendars. Note that on December 18, 20/20 begins one hour earlier than usual and runs for two hours. The segment in which I am involved is scheduled for the first hour, although this is subject to change.


If you enjoyed the show, please leave your comments at: http://abcnews.go.com/2020.

Note: After this Friday's show with Dr. Warshak (Divorce Poison) airs it will be available online.

It will be posted online at: http://www.abc.go.com/watch/2020/166626

Thanks to Rhonda P. for the update note.

New Edition of

Divorce Poison Coming Soon!

www.warshak.com

Shelters for abused men open in Switzerland

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Two shelters for abused men are opening this week in German-speaking Switzerland, one near Aarau and the other near Zurich. The shelters are not connected in any way but both are primarily designed for men who have lost their homes and families after separations, says swissinfo, which carries a feature on the two new shelters. It focuses on the little-discussed problem of violence towards men, at home.

Cantonal groups to protect fathers’ rights are coordinated by an organization called Crop. One aspect of their work is helping fathers who find themselves in difficulties, often emotionally and financially, following a separation.

Links to other sites: Federal site on home violence (Fre, Ger), Crop (Coordination romande des organisations paternelles) (Fre)

Posted by :: Ellen Wallace on 14 December 2009 at 10:48 | permalink

http://genevalunch.com/blog/2009/12/14/shelters-for-abused-men-open-in-switzerland/

The Hague Convention is mere words on paper ~ not justice for children

By Ken Thompson, December 13, 2009

Two years ago, 11 month old Panagiotis Laskos was abducted from

Australia to Poland by his mother.

Panagiotis & his mother are Australian Citizens. His mother is also a

Polish national. His father Dimitrios is an Australian citizen and is

also a Greek national.

Panagiotis is an Australian citizen & travelled to Poland with his

mother on an Australian Passport.

Dimitrios immediately lodged an application with the Polish Government

for Panagiotis to be returned to Australia under the provisions of the

Hague Convention. This is the only legal mechanism available to a

parent whose child has been abducted from Australia.

There are only three provisons within the Hague Convention upon which a

signatory country can refuse to return a child:

1) When the person, institution or other body having the care of the

person of the child was not actually exercising the custody rights at

the time of removal or retention, or had consented to or subsequently

acquiesced in the removal or retention; or

2) When there is a grave risk that his or her return would expose the

child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in

an intolerable situation.

3) Under some circumstances, the return can be refused if the child has

become settled in the country it has been abducted to. This usually

applies if the Hague application is not submitted within 12 months of

the abduction taking place.

The Polish courts initially refused to return Panagiotis to Australia

because his mother didn't want to return to Australia. This is not a

legitimate reason under the provisions of the Hague Convention.

Dimitrios appealed the decision to the High Court of Poland. He has now

been told this court has also refused to return Panagiotis to Australia.

Their reasons were:

1) The child doesn't speak English.

This is not a legitimate reason under the provisions of the HC. Anyway,

the only reason the child doesn't speak English is because he was

abducted to Poland two years ago & it has taken this much time to work

through the Polish courts.

2) The child no longer knows its father.

This is not a legitimate reason under the provisions of the Hague

Convention. The purpose of the Hague Convention is to enable children to

be reunited with their other parent as quickly as possible & to enable

parenting matters to be heard in the courts within the jurisdiction of

the child's "country of habitual residence".

The only reason the child no longer knows its father is because it was

abducted and then prevented from having any contact with its father for

almost two years. Dimitrios travelled to Poland last year to see his

son. The mother only allowed him to see Panagiotis for four hours. Now

they say the son doesn't know his father.

2) The father lied to the court about his property holdings in Sydney &

he is unreliable.

This is not relevant under the HC. The court had asked Dimitrios for

proof that he owned property in Australia & Dimitrios agreed to provide

this information even though it wasn't relevant to the case.

Dimitrios had to sell his home to pay for his legal fees. His aunt owns

a 6 bedroom house in Sydney & has offered to transfer the title to

Dimitrios. The court would not accept this. Dimitrios also owns a very

successful restaurant in Sydney but he doesn't own the building. This

was not taken into consideration by the court.

Let's not forget.....none of this is relevant to the Hague Convention.

In the two years it has taken Dimitrios to work through the Polish

courts, the mother has had the child's name legally changed and has had

it baptised in a different religion to the one it was originally

baptised in when the child was in Australia. She commenced divorce

proceedings without Dimitrious knowing about this. She is also being

supported publicly by Polish politicians & the Polish media.

Dimitrios has no other avenue of appeal within the Polish legal system.

He has no legal avenues available to him within Australia either because

International Parental Child Abduction is not a crime in Australia. If

it was, consideration could be given to seeking the extradition of the

child's mother.

This decision by the Polish High Court is a travesty of justice and a

blatant breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the

Child. It also shows the Polish legal system has total contempt for

international law & that the Polish Government is complicit in the

abduction of Australian children.

At least 150 children are abducted from Australia each year. Unlike

several other 'developed' countries, it is not a criminal offence in

Australia for a parent to abduct a child from this country. This means

Dimitrios has no further legal avenues available to him in either Poland

or Australia to have his son returned.

Where to now?

To be continued....

--

ken thompson

kenthompson at fastmail.fm

www.findandrew.com

In the UK at Kent ~ Fathers 4 Justice descend on Canterbury for Christmas demonstration

Fathers 4 Justice campaigners in Canterbury. Picture: Barry Duffield

by Adam Williams and Katie Lamborn

Campaigners from Fathers 4 Justice descended on Canterbury on Saturday for a special Christmas demonstration.

The group, known for a series of high-profile stunts, dressed as Santa Claus and assembled in the city's Buttermarket Sqaure with banners, loud horns and megaphones.

Speaking from the scene on Saturday, KM Group reporter Katie Lamborn said: "It's an electric carnival atmostphere - everyone's in good spirits. There are lots of megaphones and plenty of chanting about 'two parents being better than one'.

"There's a visible police presence - but everyone seems to be having a good time trying to get their message across."

Among the protesters was Darren Ash, 34, from Beltinge, near Herne Bay. He has been fighting for access to his daughter for more than a decade after his relationship with her mother ended amicably.

Mr Ash said: "We're here in Canterbury to send a message to Rowan Williams to listen. The church talks about being 'in the name of the Father' but they're not prepared to discuss the issue of the father."

At one stage, the protesters attempted to enter the Cathedral Precincts from Buttermarket Square but were initially turned away by police. However, they were later allowed to go in and have a photograph taken.

After the demonstration had ended at around 1.30pm, Mr Ash added: "I thought we got a very good response. Thank you to everyone for coming down to support us."

A statement issued by Fathers 4 Justice members ahead of the protest last month read: "Dressed in Santa outfits, we will yet again attempt to get our message across to the church who, like this arrogant Labour government, have ignored the plight of fathers for years.

"We have decided to take the campaign back to the church as it and its synod have not debated family breakdown since 1991. The Church of England and its representatives must stop ignoring the consequences of this issue."

Friday, December 11 2009

Visitor Comments

• Good Luck!

  11/12/2009 2:41:53 PM
  by Phil Davies

  I would like to say Good Luck to Darren & all the Fathers 4 Justice guys attending on Saturday!!! I hope some progress can be made!

• Demonstration F4J

  11/12/2009 9:36:18 PM
  by Mike Murphy

  Best wishes from way over here in Sault Ste. Marie, On Canada. I have some snow I can donate for that Christmas feeling.

This ad campaign is a breath of fresh air targeted at the forgotten demographic of males who need to get in touch with their masculinity if they have forgotten how. Most marketing companies target females and in so doing have no difficulty in showing men as bumbling idiots living with the competent, super wife (proxy mommy) who does most of the buying and household management. The Marxist victimfemis have gotten their knickers in a bonnet over it and will be screeching sexism to the UN High Commission on Progressive Speaking and Political Correctness. (In case you are an ill informed femi that was sarcasm - the organization is fictional but metaphorical.)

Men today can go through school from JK to K12 and never see a male teacher. Men today are outnumbered as University grads in all degree programs by 148 female degrees -100 male. Many men are feminized and don't even know it because they have lacked good male role models. Moms in Canada and the USA respectively get sole physical custody in 90% and 84% of cases. Similar situations exist in the UK, Australia, NZ and many other western democracies.

Its almost as though everywhere men are ensconced they drink their Lattes at the behest of some invisible curtain of Feminist Political Correctness hanging over them that has taken their family jewels and done something to them that is not in keeping with good breeding.

I'll buy some more Dockers, I've been a fan for a very long time, and be glad of the chutzpa to target men as the buyers not the "super woman" we see portrayed in commercials and TV sitcoms. If you like the approach let Levi Straus know here. I have. http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/ContactUsForm.aspx?loc=2. MJM

Links where this is discussed:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2009/12/09/2009-12-09_new_dockers_ad_campaign_for_soft_khakis_brings_charges_of_sexism_over_.html#community

http://current.com/items/91664049_new-dockers-wear-the-pants-ad-campaign-for-soft-khakis-brings-charges-of-sexism.htm

New Dockers 'wear the pants' ad campaign for soft khakis brings charges of sexism

BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, December 9th 2009, 2:05 PM

The Dockers 'Man-ifesto,' part of the new ad campaign for its khakis brand, implores men to 'wear the pants' once again.

Take our Poll

Khakis get 'manly'

Real men are set to wear the pants again - at least if you believe the new Dockers ads for khakis. But some are seeing subtle sexist overtones in the costly new ad campaign.

One of the new ads says, "It's time to answer the call of manhood," and the company's Web site exhorts men to "wear the pants."

A "Man-ifesto" posted on Dockers.com begins, "Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors ... Men took charge because that's what they did."

"Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny," the ad continues.

"Just because the Dockers ads are tongue in cheek does not mean that they're not sexist," wrote WalletPop.com blogger Jami Bernard in a recent post. "It's one thing to encourage men to man up, another to tell them to ‘wear the pants' - an expression that taps directly into the old question, ‘Who wears the pants in the family?'"

Dockers is reintroducing the brand - which, according to The New York Times, many young men associate with the 1990s and "casual" Fridays - with a big-budget blast including radio, print, poster and online advertising. Social media like Facebook and Twitter will be used in the ambitious ad campaign, which debuted earlier in December, and TV commercials will begin in February, with Dockers ads returning to the Super Bowl after an eight-year hiatus, according to The Times.

But just whom are they hoping to attract with the ads? Jennifer Sey, Dockers' vice president of global marketing, said in an interview in Brandweek that "sensitivity, chivalry, ambition and decisiveness" are on her wish list for the traits of "the modern idea of a man." The new promos hopefully will "inspire today's men to be men," she said in the interview.

Walletpop.com's Bernard feels the Dockers' ads "take an unnecessary snipe at gay men through the use of common wink-wink stereotypes. According to Dockers, a real man doesn't eat at salad bars or order nonfat lattes."

The new ad campaign may succeed at making 25- to 35-year-olds khaki-conscious. Jim Calhoun, president for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss, told The Times, "I don't think that we, as leaders of the category, have done much to keep the khaki category fresh and exciting, to give the consumers a reason to buy."

Whether or not younger men will fall for soft slacks in muted shades remains to be seen. But one thing Dockers has going in its favor: an attractive price. The khakis generally sell for $25 to $55.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2009/12/09/2009-12-09_new_dockers_ad_campaign_for_soft_khakis_brings_charges_of_sexism_over_.html#community#ixzz0ZUnKKLLK

A couple more comments from the Current site:

I think it is interesting that anyone, male or female, would get so much of their own self identity from clothing; or from someone telling them that if they wear certain clothing they will be percieved as the person they want to be. I also think it is interesting that as a society we still see the relationship between men and women as one of dominence. That we feel that one or the other has to be bigger, better, badder or stronger than the other. I think it would be nice if we could just accept each other as equals with our own specific traits and strengths that are not necessarily bound by gender. We are all just people, different 'parts' but basically the same. The only thing that makes us different is our own self perception. Seems to me that the folks this ad is targeting might want to work on their self esteem.

• rhubarb64
• 2 hours ago

collapse comments

• The ad is selling clothing but the message is the important issue not the clothing. It has broken the politically correct feminist hold on marketing departments. Your message is the same old - same old feminist drivel about us all being people and the same. Tell that to all the dads who lost custody of their children because of feminist mythology. Tell that to the 24,000,000 children who don't have dads in their lives because family courts give mom 84% physical custody in the USA and 90% in Canada. If you believe in equality then get to work on equal shared parenting with moms and dads.
  
  Men and women are fundamentally different - not the same - and years of feminization of men with propaganda about men finding their feminine side is trash talk. Why don't we instead talk about women finding their masculine side. We are men not hybrid's created in Dr. Femi's bio lab.
  
  The ad has little to do with clothing but at lot to do with the distance men are from their own masculinity. If you think this has anything to do with male self esteem you are dreaming in technicolour. I challenge you to look at the following in your artificial world next time you get up in the morning: Don't do anything to your hair but brush it, no straightening, no hair spray, no conditioner, don't fret over what to wear just throw on a suit, don't wear lipstick or makeup. Don't fret over which panties to wear unless you are planning to get undressed during the day to enjoy your sexual liberation.
  
  Do what many office men do, brush your teeth, your hair put on some comfortable or office appropriate suit and off you go. I say office or indoor work because there are no feminists working construction, fixing electrical lines, working in the sewers, operating that noisy jackhammer, climbing telephone poles in ice storms, placing steel in skyscrapers exposed to the elements, welding steel outdoors at -30 in northern Canada, de-icing airplanes in frigid conditions, working in mines below ground or offshore oil rigs pumping oil out of the bottom of the ocean, as some examples of why men earn more than women. When by mid morning coffee break all the another Sisters at the office are gathered around without you making furtive glances your way about the crisis you must be having give us a report on your self esteem.
  
  The only glimmer of truth in your soliloquy is both men and women are people and should be equal. Lets work on the latter like the feminists did in the 60's instead of all this 3rd wave feminist psycho babble women are victims men are oppressive patriarchs.
  
  The ad is the message not the clothing but I'm a Docker's pants fan and always have been. I still have some of different colours - even tan but I prefer navy blue.

  

  • Mike_Murphy
  • 6 minutes ago

•