Vincent Fichot, a Frenchman residing in Japan, did not obtain custody of his two children kidnapped in Tokyo in 2018 by their Japanese mother on Thursday, July 7, although the latter is the subject of an international arrest warrant. issued by the French courts.
"
The Japanese judge has decided that a person abusing children should obtain their custody
", was indignant Vincent Fichot during a press conference in Tokyo after the pronouncement of his divorce.
“
Japan shows no respect for international laws, human rights and Interpol
,” he further denounced.
100,000 children per year would be affected
Following criminal proceedings launched in France in 2019 by Vincent Fichot against the mother of his children, French justice issued an international arrest warrant against her at the end of 2021 for kidnapping minors and endangering a minor. .
The family court judge mentioned the existence of this arrest warrant on Thursday, but limited himself to declaring that it had "
not been executed
", specified Akira Ueno, Vincent Fichot's lawyer, who will appeal.
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The principle of shared custody of children in the event of parental separation does not currently exist legally in Japan, which means that parental abductions are common there and tolerated by local authorities, in the name of a principle of continuity of the family home.
More than 100,000 children per year are affected, according to associations, including binationals like those of Vincent Fichot, who had made his case a symbol by leading a publicized hunger strike in the summer of 2021 during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.