Campaign Slovakia Parental Abduction & Denial of Rights
Over the last three months, we have been representing parents from around the world whose children have been stolen by their partners or spouses, with these abductions being enabled through the manipulation of the Slovak judicial system. The use of the civil and criminal systems and courts to violate the rights of the children and parents has been egregious and systematic, involving a variety of improper and malicious actions, including:
- Fabrication of Criminal Charges
- Police Harassment
- Ex Parte Civil and Criminal Hearings
- Abuse of Habitual Residence and Falsification of Documents/Registrations to Establish Residence
- Denial of the Most Basic Legal, Human and Civil Rights
- Sentencing of the Estranged Parent to Prison without Trial
- Absolute Denial of Their Legal and Protected Parental Rights
- Use of Falsified Documents, Evidence or Perjury in Court
- "Limbo Cases or Charges" That Can't Be Appealed or Contested
We have raised awareness of these cases with both the European Commission and the British Government.
As a member of the EU, Slovakia is obligated to uphold the rule of law and international treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Court of Human Rights. Slovakia fails to protect children and respect parental rights. However, we need your assistance to ensure these children have fair access to both parents, both families, both cultural identities.
In these cases, a common and disturbing pattern emerges; criminal charges are often opened without evidence or, at worst, based on falsified claims. These charges are left unresolved, creating a legal "limbo." If a parent returns to Slovakia to defend their rights, they risk imprisonment on remand. Across these cases, the same names—judges, prosecutors, high-ranking politicians, police officers, guardians ad litem, and other figures—reappear time and time again
Amid the threats, imprisonment, intimidation, and corruption, there has also been loss of life. Peter Gargulak, a Slovak father who fought to reunite with his daughter, was allegedly beaten into a coma while in police custody on the 14th July 2019. Two weeks later, Peter was declared brain-dead, and his life support was switched off.
Some parents have been forced to give up - to protect their own psychological well-being or as a consequence of the financial burden of legal battles and travel.
These injustices have torn apart families from the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Slovakia itself, with many children forcibly separated from the targeted parent and family for 5 to 10 years through abusive and corrupt practices. This injustice has continued unabated for over a decade.
Campaign Objectives
Approach
Over the months of working on this project, we have come in contact with many families and have been documenting the deprivation of children’s rights and parental rights as a systematic and structured process within Slovakia.
Within the stated objectives we have already completed or commenced several of these goals for some of the families that we represent such as the issuing of reports to European anti-corruption agencies, the submission of reports to international lawyers for review and comment, and the use of international law enforcement as a mechanism to assist in the locating of missing children.
We are also in active discussions with documentary production houses to produce a feature-length documentary with several of the families as well as other content such as podcast interviews to help tell the stories of these mothers and fathers, international and Slovakian, who in many cases have not seen their children for a decade.
Objectives
- Document cases of judicial abuse of parental rights based on evidence and testimony.
- Document and identify commonalities in the practices used in Slovakia to deny parental rights as structured and systematic.
- Consult with international lawyers and specialists to review the reports and documents to assess the violations of legal and human rights.
- Utilize international law and law enforcement to locate missing children.
- Raise the deprivation of parental rights with the EU and Anti-Corruption bodies.
- Advocate for the rights of affected children and parents in the international press and highlight the scale of the problem.
- Develop a documentary, podcast interviews, and media content to support awareness of the problem.
Additional Information
Stolen Children, Erased Parents: The Story Behind Slovakia’s Parental Kidnapping Crisis Author: Malina Saval | Publisher: Los Angeles Review of BooksSupport this Campaign
Amount Raised: £0.00
Some of the Parents We Represent
Richard M. Holmes
Richard Holmes has not seen nor spoken to his now 13-year-old son, Alexander Maximillian, since Saturday, May 30, 2015. He has been trying to exercise his and Alex’s rights through the Slovak family courts for over a decade since June 2012.
Marianna Vajdova
On July 03rd 2016, Marianna’s husband travelled to Slovakia with their two young children, Alex and Tadeas, to ostensibly visit their grandparents. He returned in mid-July 2016, and then without warning moved out of the family home. Marianna returned Alex to Ireland in 2018, and was awarded sole custody of the children in 2021, but has been unable to reunite with Tadeas despite the custody award from Ireland which like Slovakia is within the European Union.
Walid Megherbi
Walid had two children with his Slovak wife, British born Adam (2019) and German born Sarah (2020). The couple lived in Germany together from 2019, until one day without notice - Walid's wife abducted the children and took them to Slovakia on the afternoon of the 25th of February 2022. He has only been able to communicate with his children on video call since the abduction took place.
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