The Metz Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced a mother and her husband to 10 months in prison who had taken two boys aged 6 and 10 years old to Afghanistan in 2020, without their father's authorization.
Found guilty of violence, the court however acquitted them of the charges of removal and non-representation of children.
For Me Marlène Schott, lawyer for the boys' mother, the court thereby recognized that
"the fact of going to Afghanistan had not put the children in danger and that my client had taken the necessary precautions"
, she said. she told AFP.
The children had denounced having undergone a circumcision in Afghanistan carried out in unrecommended sanitary and medical conditions which left them with significant trauma.
The experts who examined them reported it at an ITT of 15 days.
The older of the two children had also reported daily violence from his stepfather, in front of his mother who also took part in the violence.
At the hearing on December 19, 2023, the Metz public prosecutor's office requested a six-month suspended prison sentence for the mother and her husband.
The mother had her right to exercise parental authority withdrawn, and her partner was banned from having contact with the boys for a period of three years.
The defense appeals
They were also ordered to pay damages to Christophe de Dominicis, the father of the children who had reported their disappearance, as well as to the children.
At the end of the hearing, Christophe de Dominicis told AFP that he was
“relieved and happy with the verdict, it’s only justice”
.
“They were sentenced to more than what was requested, plus significant damages for the children, this is only reparation for what they suffered
,” he continued.
“I think the children will be happy with this decision, it was important for them that she be punished, as they said in their words”
.
“My client understands that she should not have taken her children abroad but she contests the acts of violence and the conviction that goes with it
,” reacted Me Marlène Schott.
As for the withdrawal of parental authority, the mother
“fears that she will no longer be allowed to see her children at all, whom she saw until recently during publicized visits
,” continued her counsel.
The defense announced that it would appeal.