Dec 20, 2011

Custody Case

Gotland Court Refuses to Hear Transfer of Custody In the Case of Domenic Johansson

We've received news today that Gotland Courts have refused to grant a hearing on the transfer of custody of now 10 year old Domenic Johansson from his parents and to foster parents. During a December 9th preliminary hearing, the Johanssons and representatives of Gotland Social Services were asked to present evidence supporting or refuting the need for custody transfer. After reviewing all the evidence, news was recieved today that the presiding judge has determined there was not enough evidence suggesting Annie and Christer Johansson should permanently lose the custody of their son. To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first time in the 2.5 years of this battle, where the Johanssons were finally allowed representation in court by an attorney of their choosing, Ruby Harrold-Claesson.

While this latest court decision does not lift the ongoing LVU order, it is a very bright star in an otherwise bleak journey through the Swedish Social Services system. Now that a judge has finally heard and weighed evidence from all sides and has found the side of Gotland Social Services to be wanting in their case against the Johanssons, it is our hope that the dissolution of the LVU case will soon follow with Domenic placed back into his rightful position within the bossom of his family.

Click HERE to read background on this case.

Click HERE to read an open letter from Christer Johansson, Domenic's father.

Dec 19, 2011

Open Letter & Timeline

Open Letter From Grieving Father

by Christer Johansson

I've read the Discrimination Law, the Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention, the Swedish Government Third Wave of Implementation of Human Rights and I have no other option but to conclude that our family is being gravely discriminated against by the Social Service on Gotland.

My name is Christer Johansson and I am the father of a bright, beautiful boy that has been broken into millions of pieces by the Social Services in Gotland Kommun. As perhaps you know, Domenic was taken from us in 2009 as we were on our way to India. This happened after a year of harassment and disputes over our right to educate Domenic at home. Once they took Domenic from us, we started a process of hearings and appeals to determine if we were fit parents and if Domenic was to live with us or with a foster family.

What follows is an account of some of the miscarriages of justice and blunt discrimination with which the Social Services approached our case from the very beginning. The social workers presented reports based on inventions and untruthful statements and they were not challenged by the lawyers that were supposed to defend us. Pure gossip was elevated to the status of science while sound statements by psychologists and doctors on the mental and physical health of the family were dismissed.

Just as an example, the Social Board asked the social workers at the beginning of the process about the grounds for taking custody from the parents and placing Domenic in foster care. Social worker Caroline Palmqvist stated that it was "on account of Christer's mental health." This was the first time any of us heard that my mental health was an issue. On no occasion before the moment they took my son from me had anybody within the system mention this. Now, I have proved twice and with sound reports from experts, that I do not have a mental health problem. I did suffer the trauma of suffering an earthquake and a robbery that almost took my life and took everything I had. That is different than having a mental disorder.

When mental health could not be pressed harder as a reason for justifying taking my son from me, they accused me of being a drug addict. I said, “Let me go and test myself.” Now in Sweden, to go and test yourself a Social Worker has to make the request. In this case it was the responsibility of Sofie Rosenquist to make such request. She did not do it, and she did not do it repeatedly forcing me to plea with the laboratory in charge of the testing to do it anyway. They did and it came back clean. I sent the results to Sofie Rosenquist who later on testified that I had not taken the test. Despite my complaints nobody in the court system followed up on her statement or on the laboratory.

All of a sudden I ceased being an issue and they focused on the fact that Domenic had been educated at home. It did not seem to matter that we won the case regarding homeschooling before Domenic was taken from us. It did not seem to matter that we have, in fact, registered Domenic in public school in Havdhem. It did not seem to matter that I was also invited to work there as I have been working as a teacher for many years.

The social service did not accept that. Instead, they registered Domenic in a different school far away from us. This together with the draconian rules for visitation of our own son which included not taking pictures, not speaking about the case, not bringing food with us, especially not Indian food, and not bringing gifts, is a carefully designed plan to force isolation and it goes against the law.

To further complicate matters, once my mental health or supposed drug use could no longer be established, they decided to discuss Annie’s mental health. Now Annie has never been examined for any kind of psychological issue. All comments regarding her mental health were made by social workers with no training in the field. These social workers took upon themselves to elaborate a scientific explanation for what they deemed "inappropriate grieving" after being forcefully separated from her only son. Social workers declared that Annie did not know what was best for her son and such a comment stood in court as evidence that she in fact did not know how to care for Domenic. It did not matter that Domenic was healthy for 7 years and that he was an intelligent well adjusted kid. They examined him for everything, his physical health and his intellectual and emotional development. They found nothing and now we are denied access to these reports by the Gotland Social Services.

While all this is taking place in court, we were still having very short visits every 5 weeks and at the time of his 8th birthday we were told that Domenic did not want to see us. We were told once we have arrived to the center, with my mother and father hoping for a nice celebration. There was no communication between the Social Services and us and no discussion on Domenic’s reasons. We had to turn around and go home, devastated. I have never seen my father so unhappy and disappointed. On the next occasion we saw Domenic I asked him about this and he denied having said that he did not want to see us. He was very sad and disconcerted. I confronted Sofie Rosenqvist and Caroline Palmqvist and demanded an explanation and their response was that Domenic had a better life now and that they have already made the decision of keeping us apart.
 
In this same conversation I brought up the issue of my supposed mental health problems and the fact that I had proof of not having any to which they first replied that they could not comment but then went on saying that I have a “personality disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome.” To add to their gruesome picture of me and my family, they commented upon the "distressing fact" that Domenic tends to hug other kids when he is happy and how such conduct is evidence of a deviant tendency that needs to be corrected.

New hearings in court kept bringing up new questions about my mental health and now it was this assumption of me having Asperger’s Syndrome. This was again denied by the reports after exhaustive examination and yet the lawyer Rickard Ploman continued in court to call me mentally ill and that I have a personality disorder. He has done that every time in every hearing. He is the lawyer appointed to me by the court. Now, why would my own lawyer continue referring to my mental health knowing first, that it is not true, and second, that it damages my chances of winning the case? I leave that question open because I truly do not have an answer.

The character assassination continued with reports on our house, the lack of furniture and a certain degree of messiness on the second floor. It is not noted, however, that we were at that point planning to move back to India and that we were in the process of selling all our furniture and doing some renovations before closing the house definitely.

Before I go, we have done everything we were asked to do in order to proof that we are fit parents while social services have proven shown that we are not. We have made every effort to show the circumstances of our family and the importance of us staying together after suffering two very traumatic experiences. Professor Trevor Archer, Swedish expert in Trauma, testified in our behalf and warned the court about the harm it will create to separate the family unit both for Domenic and for us.

Our future is in your hands, especially Domenic's. As Professor Archer said, Domenic can never heal from the trauma unless he comes home. And he was home for a few hours and he said to me “Daddy, what I fear the most is to go back to that family."

My son Domenic does not even cry when he hurts himself. He cannot cry anymore, which is more than enough proof that he is severely damaged him. The law is there to protect our family against violations such as this, but still after two years, the socials services continue to harm both Annie and me and Domenic. They have told him already, "You are going to stay here until your 16 years old." Domenic told me in November 2010. And now, they are telling us that they want to withdrawal full custody and give it to his foster family.

Christer Johansson

TIMELINE

Fall of 2008: The Johansson’s (Christer and Annie) contact the Ministry of Education and after being told that they could homeschool and start the process amidst the obstruction of local school officials. They make the decision of homeschooling base on their plans to move to India in a few months and consider that this will ease Domenic's (born 2002) transition and adjustment.
January 2009: After being fined and visited by social services on many occasions, Christer Johansson calls for meetings to discuss this matter, to no avail. The authorities decide that Domenic has to go to school.
February 11. 2009: The Child and education department orders the family to pay a fine of 250 SEK per day that Domenic is not at school. The Social Services intensify their pressure on the family. Homeschooling is still the only issue.
May 27th 2009: An action is taking to enforce the payment of the fine (Now 15.000 SKr). The court refused to enforce it because the school year is over - an implicit recognition of the right of the family to homeschool under the law at that time (it became illegal in July 2011). Christer Johansson informs the court of the family intention to move to India on June 26th. There is no court order or any other legal action taken to prevent the Johanssons from moving to India as was their plan.
June 25, 2009: Domenic and his parents are seated on the flight to India. Swedish police take Domenic from the plane. They alleged that there has been an anonymous report on the family (this has never been confirmed). The family cooperates. They are told that some social workers are going to talk to Domenic for a few minutes, they agree to let him go. The social worker takes Domenic from the airport. Annie collapses.
The Social Services agree to place Domenic with his uncle, Christer's brother, Mike. The parents are told that they will be able to have Domenic back the following Monday. When they go to pick him up, they are told that they have found two cavities, that Domenic seems to be extremely shy and not behaving like a normal kid of his age, and they consider this to be evidence that there is a developmental problem. From here on there is reference to Domenic's mental health. This time both Annie and Christer collapsed. Due to their physical and emotional reaction the social services decide to not allow them to see Domenic. They finally see Domenic 6 WEEKS later. In Christer's words "he (Domenic) was broken in small pieces"
August 4th, 2009: First hearing.
August 13th, 2009: The court upheld the decision of removal of physical custody without any medical or psychological report stating abuse or neglect.
The parents are not allowed to visit Domenic on his birthday and new conditions are imposed on the visits:
    No toys- Domenic cannot receive any kind of gift from his parents and definitely nothing that he could take with him to his foster home.
   No taking pictures or filming- therefore no evidence can be provided about the attitude of the Social Workers and their impediments to allow the family to bond.
   No speaking about the case- there is no possibility for the parents to speak freely with Domenic, explain the situation and comfort him.
November 30th, 2009: Court of appeals upholds decision largely based on a psychiatric report of Domenic that suggests he was “developmentally delayed”. This report was performed after Domenic has been months separated from his parents with limited, closely supervised visits .
January 27th, 2010: Swedish Supreme Administrative Court denied the appeal exhausting the domestic appeals in this case and making it possible to present a petition on the family's behalf in European Court of Human Rights.
In Sweden, the system allows for a revision to see if the child should remain in State's custody or can go back to his family. This happens every 6 months more or less. These are some of the actions taken to that effect:
May 13th 2010: Johansson's Lawyer Ruby Harrold-Claesson (Nordic Committee for Human Rights) is dismissed by the court in Gotland upon request of Domenic's court appointed lawyer complaining that she took the parents with her in an unscheduled visit to Domenic at school. Domenic was not allowed to see his parents in this occasion.
November 2010: Christer takes Domenic home the 22nd of November (without permission) when they are supposed to have a supervised meeting. Domenic stays with his family over the weekend and then Christer phones the police and tells them where they are. Police appear (again) uniformed and armed and drags Domenic away even without letting him put his outside clothes on. Christer and a friend of his that helped to take Domenic home are charged and Christer spends some time in jail and goes through a psychiatric evaluation. That analysis, completed and submitted to the courts, found Christer to be psychologically sound. Christer requested representation by Trygve Emstedt (a lawyer), but is denied his request in direct defiance of Swedish and European Union laws. Christer sits in jail until 21th of January 2011 when he is finally released.
April 17th 2011: A case number is assigned by the European Court of Human Rights .
April 23rd/27th 2011 (?): Meeting between the Johanssons and the Social Service to respond to inquiries regarding Domenic's deteriorating health. The social services insists that the actions of the parents are to blame for his health issues.
May 2011: The petition to the ECHR concludes, "Insofar as has been communicated to the family through official court orders, Domenic is to remain in the custody of the Swedish officials on what appears to be a de facto permanent basis."
September 2011: Proposal to remove legal custody from the parents.

Nov 27, 2011

Christian Voice

Miscarriage of Justice Continues 
in Johansson Case

Domenic photographed by his father only weeks before the abduction.
The fate of Domenic Johansson is still uncertain following a court hearing on 11 May. A new hearing has been scheduled for the end of the month due to Christer being unable to attend the one on 11 May.

A few weeks after the hearing a verdict will be issued determining whether Domenic is allowed to return to his parents.

Humanly speaking, it is unlikely that the hearing will change the status quo. Such meetings have been occurring every six months since Domenic was first snatched from his parents two years ago by the Swedish Social Services. So far each of these hearings have culminated in a negative verdict.

Once Domenic has been in state custody for three years, the review hearings will end and Domenic can be put up for adoption.

Neither of the parents have...Read More

Nov 3, 2011

WND ARTICLE


Son taken from parents to be shipped overseas?

Dad reports social workers' talk has referenced Thailand



Posted: November 02, 2011
9:00 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WND
Social workers who had police troopers storm a jetliner on which a family was attempting to emigrate to India, to take custody of a young boy over his homeschooling, now have discussed sending him to a family in Thailand, the boy's father has told WND.

WND reported only weeks ago that the social workers responsible for removing Domenic Johannson from his parents had called for a court hearing to consider moving custody permanently away from the family and to the government.

That word had come from officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association, which along with the Alliance Defense Fund already has elevated the dispute involving Christer and Annie Johannson and their son, Domenic, of Sweden to the European Court of Human Rights.


Domenic, now 9, has been in the custody of social services and in foster homes in Sweden since 2009, when as a 7-year-old he was snatched from a jetliner he and his parents had boarded to move to India, his mother's home country.
Michael Donnelly, director of international relations for HSLDA, told WND when the social services workers sought the court hearing, "The only way I can think of describing the way the Swedish social and judicial systems have treated the Johansson family is barbaric – the harm done to them is beyond comprehension.

Oct 8, 2011

WND ARTICLE

THEIR GOVERNMENT AT WORK

Social services threaten homeschooling parents

Hearing to target family whose son taken by police



Posted: October 07, 2011
8:57 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WND



Annie and Domenic Johansson
Social services workers who had police snatch a 7-year-old boy from his parents while they were aboard a jetliner preparing to move to the mother's home country of India because he was being homeschooled have called for a court hearing where they apparently will seek to terminate the parents' rights completely.
That word has come from officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association, which along with the Alliance Defense Fund already has elevated the dispute involving Christer and Annie Johannson and their son, Domenic, of Sweden to the Europe Court of Human rights.
Find out why classes seem so different these days, in "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools"
Christer Johannson told WND by email this week that he got a letter from the court explaining social workers wished "to move custody of Domenic to the foster family."
Domenic, now 9, has been in the custody of social services, and in foster homes, in Sweden ever since 2009 when he was snatched from a jetliner he and his parents had boarded in order to move to India.
(Story continues below)

   

Michael Donnelly, director of international relations for the HSLDA, told WND, "The only way I can think of describing the way the Swedish social and judicial systems have treated the Johansson family is barbaric – the harm done to them is beyond comprehension.
"Their most basic of human rights have been....Read more: Social services threaten homeschooling parents http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=352733#ixzz1aCxCSg7t

May 16, 2011

Sweden's Utopia

Sweden’s Big Government ‘Utopia’ Unmasked

by Alex Newman for Crisis Magazine


The Kingdom of Sweden has been revered by supporters of big government around the world for decades, cited by statist college professors and policy makers everywhere. It started with the myth that its “socialist” system could simultaneously provide freedom, prosperity, and generous welfare benefits to all. But now, the illusion is beginning to crumble.

The Swedish government has become notorious worldwide in recent years: Its blatant and sometimes brutal suppression of...READ MORE.

May 11, 2011

New American: Appeal Draws Supporters

Appeal For “Kidnapped” Swedish Homeschooler Draws Supporters
Written by Alex Newman for The New American   
Wednesday, 11 May 2011 14:42

As the now-infamous case of Swedish homeschooler Domenic Johansson (at left, with his parents) — seized by authorities because of homeschooling almost two years ago — continues to drag on through the judicial system, a group of the family’s supporters turned out at an appeal in Stockholm on May 11 to express their hope that the family would be reunited soon.

The story of the Johansson tragedy has caused an international uproar, attracting the involvement of numerous prominent human-rights groups in Sweden and around the world. At least hundreds of thousands of homeschooling activists, particularly in America, have been outraged by the case. And now, some Swedes...read more.

































































Daniel Hammarberg's address: State of the Swedish Child Welfare

Below is a video compiled by Daniel Hammarberg, author of The Madhouse: A Critical Look at Swedish Society. As a teen, Mr. Hammarberg found himself an unwilling partaker of Swedish child welfare services. While all he wanted was to be left alone, social workers would forcibly involve themselves in his life over several years, even to the point of attempting to institutionalize him against his will. This experience left a lasting impression upon Hammarberg. Since then, he has endeavored to learn as much as possible about Sweden's child welfare laws, LVU, and other aspects of such laws that allow government workers much overreaching involvement in every aspect of one's personal life. While this video gives a detailed look at Sweden's child welfare state, Hammarberg's book provides a broader look at Swedish life under rapidly expanding social engineering laws and serves as a warning to Americans as we see our own government embracing more and more socialistic practices.







Visit Daniel Hammarberg's site.

Apr 18, 2011

European Court Case Advances





WND Exclusive
 
NEWS OUTRAGE!

Abducted homeschooler's case finally advances

Police took child from his parents only because of education at home

Posted: April 17, 2011
5:54 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WorldNetDaily


Christer and Domenic Johansson

It's been some nine months since family advocates pleaded with the European Court of Human Rights to look into the case of a Swedish child taken by police from his parents and isolated with government-sponsored foster parents because he was being homeschooled, and now a case number has been assigned.

The move in Domenic Johansson's case is significant, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association, because once a file number has been assigned, the case can begin to move forward.

The HSLDA had joined with the Alliance Defense Fund, an international civil and religious rights organization, to seek help from the ECHR.

"The ECHR is the Johanssons' only remaining recourse, since their case has been heard at every level of the Swedish court system," said Michael Donnelly, the HSLDA's director of international relations. "It was strange...

Read more: Abducted homeschooler's case finally advances http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=287609#ixzz1JsIgibJ0

Apr 17, 2011

Next LVU Court Hearing Set for May 11

Domenic, during his November 2010 time away from scocials and with his father.
While the Swedish Family Court plans another hearing on the Domenic Johansson kidnapping case, many observers ask, "Why bother?"

Don't get me wrong. I believe the Johanssons should be in court fighting tooth and nail until their son has been rightfully restored to them, and I will support them to the best of my ability until that day finally arrives. As far as I am concerned, they've never had a real court trial in this case. Instead, these dear, gentle people have stood tried and convicted as guilty since June 25th, 2009, months before ever setting foot into an LVU court room.  

As far as close observers of this case are concerned, the Johanssons have never been before a legitimate court. Every "trial" this innocent family has suffered since armed Swedish police swept onto an India bound jetliner and abducted their son, has been nothing more than what a Kangaroo Court of justice can deliver. Harsh words? Yes. Unwarranted? A resounding NO! Consider the following questions:
  • In what court, in this day and age, is it considered justice to deny the accused their choice of legal counsel, and the chance to offer witnesses and testimony supporting their claim of innocence? 
  • In what court is justice served when a sitting judge is presented written testimony as evidence from doctors and psychiatrists stating the mental health of the accused to be sound, yet this same judge ignores the expert testimony and instead accepts as gospel truth the testimony of child welfare workers, who are neither doctors nor psychiatrists, but who "diagnose" the defendant as having a narcissistic personality disorder? 
  • In what court is justice served when Eva Ernston, who is paid by the state of Sweden to "represent" Domenic's interests in court, publicly and indiscriminately boasts to friends and strangers alike, that "Domenic is better off without his weird father"? So much for keeping secret the reason Gotland Social Services has destroyed a family. According to Ernston, it is because Christer Johansson is, in her own words, "weird."
  • In what court is justice served when Domenic's foster mother tells little Domenic that he will stay with her regardless of what the judge decides, essentially telling the little boy she will break the law, if she has to, to keep him with her? 
  • In what court is justice served when this same foster mother tells child welfare workers what she told Domenic: that she will not give him back to his parents no matter what the court decides; and upon hearing this declaration, rather than reprimand, correct or otherwise protect Domenic from a foster mother untrustworthy enough to break the law rather than relinquish a child not hers to keep in the first place, the child welfare workers put in an official Gotland Social Services document, word for word what the foster mother told Domenic, then send this document to the Johanssons to further demoralize them?

Folks, the only courts in which I am aware such perverted justice is practiced is in the kangaroo courts of the Swedish LVU system. And of what crime are the Johanssons guilty? Surely, for so much trouble and distress, they must have beat or otherwise abused or neglected their son and surely all of this abuse and neglect has been documented in the three court cases the LVU system has already entertained on behalf of the Johanssons....

In fact, no.  There is no such case.

Instead, in court documents the Johanssons are accused of home schooling their son at a time when home schooling was still a legal option in Sweden. It is for this reason alone Gotland Social Services employed armed police to charge onto an airplane, upon which this family were passengers on the last leg of their journey back to India, where Christer and Annie were married and where Annie had always lived until a few months prior to Domenic’s birth.

After Gotland Social Services abducted the boy from the plane, they conducted a fishing expedition hoping to find more cause to keep Domenic. Their findings? Incomplete vaccinations (parents have the right to delay or deny vaccinations in Sweden) and a cavity in one of Domenic’s baby teeth. It was at this point that Domenic should have been immediately returned to his parents.

Not so, however. As is customary in many LVU cases in Sweden, it was time to pull out all the stops rather than admit Gotland Social Services acted erroneously on Domenic Johansson’s behalf. Parental character assassination is always the remaining weapon in the working toolbox of Gotland Social Services and apparently it is also their deadliest. The first accusations against the Johanssons is that Christer Johansson is a narcissist. This is not an official diagnosis. It is simply the opinion of the social workers. Even so, if narcissism is reason enough to destroy a parent/child relationship, I can think of hundreds of Hollywood celebrities whose children should be removed immediately. Next, he is accused of being overly obsessed with health, health foods and healthy living. Apparently health gurus should have their children forcibly removed as well? Next is the accusation that Christer Johansson is obsessed with human rights. After what his family has been through, who wouldn’t be? Even so, as Eva Ernston has so aptly deduced from all of Gotland Social Service’s findings, Christer Johansson is obviously “weird,” thus Domenic is much “better off without his weird father!”

Looking at Annie, who is a very soft spoken, loving, kind and gentle person, Gotland Social services found it more difficult to assassinate her character. Therefore, rather than attack her directly, they simply suggest to the court that Annie lives in the shadow of her husband. Yes, this is Annie’s crime. This is why Annie had her then 7 year old son ripped from her loving arms.

While all of these character “flaws” are enumerated in court records against the Johanssons, even more concerning is what is missing from court records. The court records fail to mention Christer’s accomplishments in music and the visual arts. They also fail to mention the very close and loving relationship Domenic and Christer enjoyed before Gotland Social Services disrupted it. They fail to mention how Christer was nurturing a love for animals and nature in Domenic. They fail to mention how Christer was passing on to his son a passion for capturing the beauty of the Swedish landscape in photographs, teaching him the art as they went on photo shooting expeditions, sharing these experiences side-by-side. 

As for Annie, the court records fail to mention the fact that Annie holds a Master’s Degree in English, and that Domenic was fluent in both Swedish and English on the day he was taken. Ironically, Annie is more qualified to educate Domenic than the average Swedish classroom teacher. However, the court record fails to mention such things.

And so we ask, what can we expect from yet another court hearing within Sweden’s LVU walls of justice? Can we expect more of the same or will truth and justice finally be served in the now notorious case regarding the custody of Domenic Johansson? Will the Johanssons be allowed to bring in the defense attorney of their choosing? Will the judge act independent of the child welfare workers, allowing the Johanssons to have their entire and complete defense heard and fairly weighed? 

PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING:
As this next court date fast approaches, please consider donating to the Johanssons. A donation button is located at the upper right of the Friends blog. If you decide you'd like to donate and you do not read Swedish, there is a little drop-down menu on the upper right of the Paypal page (where you go after pressing the yellow Donate button) that gives you the option to translate the page to the language of your choice. Thank you for you support!

Feb 4, 2011

Socials at work AGAIN

Snatching children for no good reason is far too common in Sweden!

Feb 3, 2011

LifeSiteNews

Pro-family group puts pressure on European Court over notorious homeschooling case


Christer, Domenic, Annie
February 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Alliance of Romanian Families (AFR) is intervening in the case of Domenic Johansson, the Swedish boy who was abducted by Gotland social services in 2009, asking that he be returned to his family, as international pressure increases on the Swedish government. 

The AFR, a Christian pro-life and family advocacy group based in Bucharest, is calling for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to move forward in the case, noting that lawyers representing the Johannson family filed a complaint against the Swedish government six months ago. The AFR lobbies for the rights of parents, including the right to home school, at the international level.

In a letter addressed to the ECHR, the AFR said...READ MORE

Jan 22, 2011

WND: Father Set Free

Father jailed for visit with son set free

'Released today, after 2 terrible months!'



Posted: January 22, 2011
12:40 am Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WorldNetDaily

A Swedish father who was jailed by authorities for taking his son, in state custody because social services workers worried he was being homeschooled, home for a visit has been released from his incarceration.
Word came to WND tonight via an e-mail from Christer Johansson, who said, "I was released from jail today, after 2 terrible months! … When the judge read the verdict, he said...

Read more: Father jailed for visit with son set free http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=254093#ixzz1BmSJfFYS

Jan 21, 2011

Home


Johasson Released from Custody Today
Court Ordered Forensic Psychological Evaluation finds Johansson Psychologically Healthy

An obvious confident and happy child before Social Services

We've received word that Christer Johansson was released from
police custody today immediately following a court hearing which was held as a continuance of the previous hearing of December 20, 2010. The original December 20th hearing was held as a result of an impulsive act on behalf of Johansson when on November 22, 2010, he took his son Domenic home, without permission, from a state supervised visit. According to Chapter 4 section 2 of the Criminal Code, this is punishable with prison for a minimum of one and maximum of ten years. Removing a child under fifteen years of age from the social services can constitute a crime against freedom or the promotion of escape and is punishable with fines or a prison sentence of up to one year. 


During the December 20th hearing, the presiding judge, Lagman Mikael Mellqvist, withheld sentencing until Johansson had undergone a lengthy forensic psychological analysis. That analiysis, completed and submitted to the courts just this week, found Mr. Johansson to be psychologically sound.

An obviously stressed and less confident child months after living with strangers in foster care.
This psychological finding is in direct opposition to the accusations made against Johansson by Gotland Social Services during both the December 2009 and September 2010 hearings to determine if Domenic should be returned to his parents or remain a ward of the Swedish state. In both court hearings, the Johanssons provided psychological reports stating Mr. Johansson was without a psychological diagnosis. However, Gotland Social Services continues to insist that Mr. Johansson suffers from a narcissistic disorder, while independent psychological assessments find him psychologically healthy. And now, in today's criminal proceedings the lengthy forensic psychological assessment, has found Mr. Johansson free of any psychological disorder.

Based upon those findings, Judge Mellqvist found it within reason to release Mr. Johansson, who went home today. We will receive more information as we receive it. In the meantime, the Johanssons continue to need your support and prayers as they continue their fight against Sweden for the freedom of their son. 

Annie, Christer and Domenic Johansson's nightmare began in 2008 while the family made plans to  move to India, Annie's home country and where her entire family still resides. Rather than enroll their only child in the Swedish public school, only to be interrupted in the middle of the school session due to the impending move, the couple decided to home school then 7 year old Domenic and await their arrival in India to enroll him in school there. However, the local school principal, who holds a hostile attitude toward home schooling, as well as Gotland Social Services would not agree to the family's educational plans for their son and a legal fight ensued throughout Domenic's first school year, culminating in hefty fines for each day Domenic was not in school. 

Domenic's mother, Annie, holds a Master's Degree in English, as well as several other degrees and diplomas. Mrs. Johansson successfully home schooled Domenic during his first grade even while the legal battle swirled around them. In April of 2009, the family was taken to court for the unpaid fines. The judge in that hearing found in favor of the Johanssons and Visby Social Services were ordered to stop fining the family.

In a June 2009
published article regarding the Johansson matter, chair of Sweden's department of Children and Education Lena Celion made it perfectly clear that Annie and Christer's parental right to manage the education of their child was not to be granted. Instead, Celion said it is Domenic's right to be enrolled in school, and the municipality is exercising its duty by forcing the family to enroll the boy, even though the family clearly communicated their intentions to leave the country. 

Celion said, "
It's his right. We are doing this for the boy's sake." For "the boy's sake" Swedish social services ripped a happy, healthy and cherished child from the arms of loving parents. Why? To force him to sit daily in a building behind a desk in a Swedish school when just a few short months later he would have been doing the very same thing in Indian public schools, less the trauma caused by what has been almost an entire year separated from his parents.

Finally, on June 25th of 2009, as the Johanssons waited on an India bound jetliner readying for take off from Stockholm's international airport, uniformed and armed Swedish police, at the behest of Visby Social Services, swarmed the plane and removed Domenic from his parents’ custody. Social Services managed to rip this child from the arms of his loving family without a warrant and without reasonable cause to believe that he was being harmed. Their supposed crime? They chose to home school Domenic and to delay or decline certain immunizations. After the seizure of Domenic, Visby Social Services went on a fishing expedition and found that Domenic had two untreated cavities in his baby teeth and used those two cavities as reason enough to place the boy in the home of strangers where he has languished ever since.

Jan 19, 2011

Link Fixed

The Link to Yesterday's Story has been Fixed. 

The link taking you to the rest of the WND story that was posted tot eh blog yesterday has been fixed. Our apologies for any inconvenience. Go back here to read the beginning of the story and then to finish reading the story, the Read More link now works. A thank you to those who brought this problem to our attention!

Jan 18, 2011

WND: Judges blow off plea

Judges blow off separated family's plea





Christer and Domenic Johansson

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights for more than six months have ignored a separated Swedish family's plea for justice and reunification, and advocates for Christer and Annie Johansson say now it's time for the citizens of the world to demand action.

"It is quite concerning that this court has not responded to the pleadings filed – it has been rumored that there may be a court official who is...Read more: Judges blow off separated family's plea for justice