It’s a holiday season – Christmas, Santa Claus, presents, egg nog, etc – but forgive me if I don’t feel festive. It has been five (5) months since the District Appeal Court in Gdansk has issued its final ruling on my Hague Convention application to return the children to USA – and my children are still in Poland! One would think that it’s impossible. How can it be?
The simple reality is, that my wife went into hiding with the children. She insists that the children are her “sole property” and that the current situation she is putting them in is a healthy one. Sadly, a lot of people in Poland’s legal system seems to agree with her. Others seem to be helpless.
As it stands today, Polish police has its hands tied with many legal rules, regulations and restrictions before they can ever commence the search for Daniel and Amelia. For example, the police officer assigned to my case is forbidden to even add the names of my children or my wife’s into the national police missing persons database! The police actions, so far, have been limited to only following up the leads provided by me. But I must insist. Also, they are not allowed to do any investigative work before a proper ruling is issued by the judge, eg. start checking telephone records for possible clues. At the same time, the District Attorney’s office has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help me, despite the fact that the law obligates them to do so.
Furthermore, judging by his actions to date, I can only suspect that the prosecutor himself is closely working WITH my wife giving her all the legal advice, pointing out loopholes on how to defeat the system. The fact remains that since the start (in 1999) he openly protested against the Hague Convention treaty claiming in court that it not only violates the Polish Constitution but the Convention on Children’s Rights as well! His position is not only absurd but ludicrous and biased. Even the prosecutor’s superior, when I talked to her, was only interested in convincing me “what’s best for the children”, ie. to be with the mother. She was not at all interested in the laws (both domestic and international) that her office was notoriously breaking.
By the way, they have a very specific way of showing their displeasure when you disagree with them – they just call you stupid!
The bottom line is, at this point, it’s anybody’s guess when I get some resolution.
I would strongly encourage everyone in the U.S. to write a brief letter to your senators, President Bush, Laura Bush and, yes, the MEDIA (e.g
www.Nationalreview.com, www.foxnews.com).
WE MUST PUT PRESSURE ON THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO FORCE POLAND TO HONOR ITS INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. THAT IS OUR ONLY HOPE. We must stir up another Elian-Gonzales-like media frenzy to educate the public of this heinous crime.
Bogdan