CAIRO: It’s been over a year since Katarina Husakova last saw her son Adam. His Egyptian father is keeping him from her until she signs a document vowing never to take Adam outside Egypt.
“He told me Adam can never move to Europe, he can only be a good Muslim here [Egypt], Husakova, who is Slovakian, told Daily News Egypt.
Husakova, who changed her name to Katarina Azab and converted to Islam, met her husband Ahmed Hassan Azab in Sharm El-Sheikh, where he worked as a bus driver. Two years into their urfi (common law) marriage, she got pregnant. Her husband sent her back to Europe, saying he couldn’t afford raising a child.
However, seven months after Adam was born, Azab moved to Slovakia to be with his family and the couple were officially married there in February 2007 before they moved to London together.
In October 2008, Azab took his wife and son for a visit to Egypt, claiming he wanted his family to see Adam.
“We stayed with his mother at their house in Warraq and were supposed to fly back the following month, but on our last night there Ahmed told me he’ll take Adam to see his friends while I pack, she said.
This was the last time she saw her son.
“He [Azab] told me I can only see him if I sign a paper saying that Adam will never leave Egypt and promise that I will not go to either the [Slovak] embassy or the police, she recounted.
After spending 10 days trying to reach a resolution with her husband, Husakova went to the embassy and started taking legal action. In December 2008, a court order gave her custody of Adam.
“We have received numerous court orders in favor of Katarina so everything is now in the hands of the executive authorities. Last year they were persistent and were continuously searching, but they are more lax this year, said Sherif Ramadan, Husakova’s lawyer.
“Honestly the judicial bodies were more than cooperative but it’s the police, State Security and the Ministry of Interior who have to intensify the search for the boy and take action in order to resolve this case, he added.
Another court order later sentenced Azab to prison for keeping the child from his mother. The last court ruling Husakova received was on Dec. 29, 2009 which again gave her custody of Adam.
All the rulings were made in absentia as Azab delegated his sister to take care of all legal matters.
“The last agreement was that in order to see my child I’ll have to withdraw the cases sentencing him to prison along with all the rights the court granted me, Husakova explained.
Husakova’s case was escalated to top officials. Last August the Slovak ambassador met with the Minister of Interior to discuss the matter. An order was made afterwards to arrest Azab’s mother and sister but to no avail, since the whereabouts of Adam remain unknown.
The Embassy of Slovakia has been supporting Husakova within the framework of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic also pays top attention to Husakova’s case. The case was discussed also during the recent visit of H.E. Miroslav Lajcák, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic who promised that her case will be solved as soon as possible and Adam will be reunited with his mother, Valer Franko, the Consul at the Slovak Embassy in Egypt, told Daily News Egypt.
Last summer Husakova wrote a letter to Egypt’s First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, explaining her case and went to the Ministry of Family and Population but is yet to receive a response. She is also planning on writing a letter to the European Parliament about her situation.
Being a foreigner helped draw more attention to her case. “Katarina being a foreigner has been a strong point to our advantage, it opened many doors for us at different bodies since the authorities also considered Egypt’s name and how it looks in front of the whole world, explained Ramadan.
But according to family lawyer Essam Mohamed Ali from Ezz Law Firm, the law does not differentiate between foreign and Egyptian parents.
“In all cases the custody is given to the mother as she is the better guardian for the child, he said.
“If the child is a male the mother has custody until he is 15 years old and if it’s a female the mother has custody until marriage, he explained citing Child Law 126/2008.
Ali explained that taking Adam is classified as “kidnapping and is punishable by law, which also “makes Katarina’s position stronger.
This type of custody battle is not unique to Husakova. A group was created on the social networking website Facebook titled “Children Abducted to Egypt by Daniella De Staelen, another foreign mother whose children were “abducted to Egypt nine years ago.
“I want to gather all those parents that had their child taken from them to Egypt. We are not in the minority anymore and hopefully we can exchange advice with one another to help us through a parent’s worst nightmare, she said.
Only a few weeks after the group was created, more than 15 children were reported to be abducted to Egypt.
Only one of those children was reunited with their mother.
Husakova’s case has been recently adopted by Reunite, a leading UK charity specializing in international parental child abduction.
“We are able to ensure that she is receiving good legal advice and we have referred her case to the Ministry of Justice [with] whom we work. We will be prepared to assist with mediation, Denise Carter, director of the Reunite International Child Abduction Center, told Daily News Egypt.
According to Carter, who is also a mediation specialist in cross border family disputes, there have been many similar cases over the years.
Reunite is currently running a mediation project in Egypt. “We need to work hand in hand with the Egyptian authorities to ensure that the best interest of the children involved in these cases is considered first and to continue to work with the parents involved to see if we can encourage them to work together in the best interest of their children.
“We also need to raise public awareness and raise awareness among judges and lawyers, Carter explained.
“Katarina will find her son, she is a mother and will not grow tired of the ongoing search, Ramadan said.
