Submitted COMPLAINT/APPEAL sent to the Minister of Justice
Slizhevsky Oleg Leonidovich (Слижевский Олег Леонидович)

Slizhevsky Oleg Leonidovich (Слижевский Олег Леонидович)- Ex-Minister of Justice of Belarus

The complete Complaint/Appeal:

Your Excellency,

I am writing to you in regard to my legal case which is currently being reviewed and processed by the courts in the Republic of Belarus. I am one of the growing number of foreign parents whose children have been abducted by a citizen of Belarus. My two daughters, Anthie’ (now 7 yo) and Alexandra (now 4 yo) have been abducted from Sweden to Belarus by their mother, Ms. Liudmila Trafimovich, on April 18th, 2017. Since then, 2.5 years have passed, and I am still fighting for their return home to Sweden, where they were born, are citizens of, and went to Kindergarten, where they spent all their lives until they were abducted.

I have read your interview published on May 30, 2019 (reference: https://ilex.by/news/intervyu-sministrom-yustitsii-olegom-slizhevskim-o-natsionalnyh-i-mezhdunarodnyh-mehanizmah-zashhityinteresov-detej/) and I understood that you are perfectly versed in The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction that provides an expeditious method to return children internationally abducted by a parent from one member state to another. In your interview, you detailed out the process and showed understanding in regard to the huge stress and psychological damage of the abducted children, and also highlighted the fact that such children should be returned back to their original country as soon as possible and that any conflict should be further resolved by the competent court of their original permanent residence which, according to The Hague Convention is the only one who has the competence to solve custody and alimony issues (in my case – it is Sweden).

When my children were abducted, I immediately started the legal process to return them back to Sweden. I followed all of the rules and regulations as required, in line with the Hague Convention and with all the applicable laws. Please find attached the confirmation from the Central Authorities of the Republic of Belarus dated 10.05.2017. Unfortunately, 2.5 years later, my children still have not been returned to Sweden. In a nutshell, there are several reasons for this: 1) extreme procedural delays caused by the local Belarussian courts; 2) outdated local laws that are in conflict with the Hague Convention; 3) judges not understanding or just ignoring The Hague Convention; 4) ignorance and arrogance of some of the judges and/or legal bodies in Belarus discriminating foreign citizens, despite the fact that according to the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens enjoy the same procedural rights in the courts as Belarussian citizens.

I am very open with you. I am a 61-year-old male, by ethnicity Greek with Swedish citizenship, and have spent the last ~2.5 years of my life fighting for the most precious human beings in my life, my daughters, who have been illegally taken from me. I have been forcibly separated from my children, and my former partner, Ms. Trafimovich, is not letting me see them or visit them normally, even if we agree on a meeting, Ms. Trafimovich is abruptly changing plans at the last moment, inventing excuses and playing with me like a cat with a mouse. Because of the 2.5-year delays caused by the slow courts, my children, of course, have meanwhile forgotten Swedish and the Greek language they were fluent in, especially Anthie’. As such, I am now unable to even talk to them over the phone.

For almost two years, I have repeatedly proposed to my ex-partner to pay for the language classes for my children to maintain their Greek and Swedish language skills. However, my ex-partner, Ms. Trafimovich, is not willing to even call the teachers that I found for my kids. At the surface, she formally agrees to my proposals, but, in reality, she does nothing, and nobody in Belarus is able to do anything about it (or, simply, does not care). I am not even given any information about the new school (elementary school) my daughter Anthie’ is now attending, despite the fact that I have been asking Ms. Trafimovich about it.

Recently, I sent a request to the Ministry of Education (17.09.2019) in Belarus to help me with this issue. Please find attached a letter to the Ministry of Education dated 17.09.2019 with an appeal to help me. The last answer I received on my Petition/Motion to the Ministry of Education was on 18.10.2019 by Email from the Head of the Department of Education Administration of the Oktyabrsky district of Minsk. At this very moment, I am collecting documents in Sweden to satisfy Mr. M.E. Maslow’s request.

Maslov Maxim Evgenievich (Маслов Максим Евгеньевич) Deputy Head of
the Education Department Administration of the Oktyabrsky District Minsk

tel./fax: (017) 213 28 15
E-mail: [email protected]

http://oktue.minsk.edu.by/ru/main.aspx?guid=15081

I have been advised by the Belarussian courts to use Skype to be a father. I find this advice to be insulting to any person who is a parent. How can anyone be a parent using Skype and sign language to try to communicate with my kids, living almost a thousand kilometers away from you? This is just one of the small examples of the advice I am given by the judges in Belarus.

Your Excellency, I have carefully read every single word that you said in your interview, but I have to inform you that the reality in Belarus is still, unfortunately, in sharp contrast with what you are describing. 

At the moment, foreign parents (left behind) have a zero chance of getting their kids returned even if they follow the Hague Convention and all the procedures. 

The courts in Belarus proceed the same way each time – very slowly, creating obstacles to make sure the kids start adapting to their new life in Belarus (this will then, of course, be used against the left-behind parent): 

– not respecting the Hague Convention at all (I can provide you with numerous examples for this: pages and pages of documents where all of this is recorded); and, unfortunately, some of the judges also suffer from the old mentality where kids “automatically” belong to their mother, and father is nobody! 

This is not the right approach, your Excellency; children need their father the same much, to have healthy psycho-emotional development and self-esteem!

From your interview, I understood that you are also trying to update and change the local laws, and I truly appreciate it. However, for my children, for me, and for any existing or new cases of Child Abduction to Belarus, it might be very late until all these reformed local laws start working in practice and in line with the Hague Convention. By then, my children might completely forget about me, or I might be dead. 

Attached, please find a decision ruled on the 23rd of August 2017 by Ms. Birulia, which is a grave example of denial of justice and mistrial, confirmed by highly skilled and competent local professionals. Because, for a lot of judges and prosecutors in Belarus, Your Excellency, this is just a game, and their personal ambitions and ego are more important than the true interests of the abducted children, not to mention any justice at all.

Judge Olga Anatolyevna Biruliya (Бируля Ольга Анатольевна) – Deputy Chairman of
the Oktyabrsky District Court in Minsk, Belarus
(Заместитель председателя суда по гражданским делам, Суд Октябрьского района г. Минска)

Link: https://okt.minsk.gov.by/zakon-i-poryadok/sud
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +375 (17) 297 63 55, 297 64 21

I am also attaching for you one of the latest examples of injustice, which is Mr. Stuck’s recent “delayed” ruled decision (30.09.2019), to reject my Supervisory Appeal/Complaint submitted on the 15th of July 2019 regarding The Hague Convention. Attached please find the ruled decision to reject my Supervisory Appeal/Complaint, dated 30.09.2019. Without paying any serious assessment to raised arguments in my Appeal with provided facts and evidence and simultaneously accepting an illegally ruled decision on custody on the 27th of December 2018 by the court of the first instance without even commenting on it and accepting that Ms. Trafimovich has been receiving documents on my behalf without having the right to do so!

Prosecutor Aleksey Konstantinovich STUK (СТУК Алексей Константинович )
Deputy Prosecutor General
(Государственный советник юстиции 3 класса)

Link: http://www.prokuratura.gov.by/
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +375 17 337 43 57, 328 55 41

I am sure that Your Excellency knows, that according to the Hague Convention, this is an illegal action because the claim under The Hague Convention regarding child abduction is still being processed.

In addition to numerous illegal decisions taken by the courts in Belarus, on October 27, 2017, the Law Office of Ms. Trafimovich published an article where they deliberately tried to defame a “Scandinavian” country and me personally, with lies, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies served to the public audience of Belarus to create a public opinion while my legal case was still being processed. This was a poorly written article, and I did not bother to react. In my opinion, this was very amateurish, and the author has clearly underestimated the intelligence of its own nation because the Belarussian audience understood what was going on anyway, and people posted their own comments (https://rebenok.by/inf/state/24816-razvod-s-inostrantsem-beloruski-uvozyat-detei-domoi-a-ikhobvinyayut-v-pokhishcheny.html).

This is all that I wanted to tell you, Your Excellency. I wish that we talked under different circumstances, and I wish that we actually never had to talk at all about Child Abduction, but the situation that I was put into, is forcing me to keep reaching out to anyone who might be willing to help my children out of this horrible situation. I am not giving up on my children, and I will fight for them as long as it takes, with all legal means, if necessary, up to the Supreme Court of Belarus, where I hope justice will finally be served.

I would be much obliged if Your Excellency would like to give us a chance to meet in person, so I can provide detailed case documentation for your own review. I know that it is not easy to be in your position, and I definitely do not expect any miracles to happen. At the same time, though, I want my voice to be heard, because my children and the other abducted children and their parents deserve that, too.

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2019.11.12 ANSWER from the Ministry of Justice on my Complaint to Mr. Slizhevskiy dated 2019.10.24

ZADIRAN Sergey Vladimirovich (ЗАДИРАН Сергей Владимирович) – First Deputy
Minister Ministry of Justice BY

Re: Consideration of Appeal

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, in connection with your electronic appeal received on October 28, 2019, reports the following.

Based on the provisions of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of October 25, 1980 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention), the issue of returning a child to his or her state of permanent residence or refusal to return is taken by the competent administrative or judicial authority of the state to which the child is removed.

The competent authorities of the Republic of Belarus for the examination of applications for the return of children under the Convention are the courts. Moreover, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus is not authorized to initiate legal proceedings in cases under the Convention, as well as to represent the interests of the parties in court.

According to Article 11 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus, when administering justice in civil cases, judges are independent and are subject only to the law. Intervention in their activities in the administration of justice is not allowed and entails liability under the law. Guarantees of independence of judges are established by the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and other legislative acts.

The issues of legality and validity of court decisions raised in your appeal are subject to consideration in accordance with the procedure established by civil procedural legislation. In case of disagreement with the court decisions, you have the right to appeal them in the manner prescribed by Section VIII of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus.

For legal assistance on issues raised in your appeal, you have the right to contact a lawyer of your choice. In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated December 30, 2011, “On Advocacy and Legal Practice in the Republic of Belarus”, one of the main tasks of lawyers is to provide legal assistance on a professional basis to clients in order to exercise and protect their rights, freedoms, and interests. Lists of lawyers, law firms, and legal advice offices are posted on the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus www.miniust.gov.by (“Activity” (Деятельность) – “Advocacy and Licensing of Legal Activities” (Адвокатура и лицензирование юридической деятельности) – “Legal Practice” (Адвокатская деятельность)).

It must be noted that by paragraph 2 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of November 13, 1997, “On Accession to the Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction”, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus is established as the Central Authority of the Republic of Belarus for the purposes of the Convention. In performing the functions of the Central Authority of the Republic of Belarus for the purposes of the Convention, which are generally set out in Article 7 of the Convention, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus constantly analyzes the practice of applying the Convention in the Republic of Belarus and takes steps to remove obstacles to the correct and uniform application of its provisions.

First Deputy Minister, S.V. Zadiran

Attached Hereto:

• 2019-11-12 RU Answer from the Ministry of Justice on my Complaint to Mr. Slizhevskiy dated 2019.10.24
• 2019-11-12 EN Answer from the Ministry of Justice on my Complaint to Mr. Slizhevskiy dated 2019.10.24

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Epilogue

On the website of the Ministry of Justice, on the page with the title “INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION”, a couple of citations follows that are rather interesting and impressive:

“International relations are the cooperation of states. The mechanism, designed to ensure the effectiveness of such cooperation, is international law”.

“The Ministry of Justice is defined as the central body for coordination of realization of relevant international obligations according to the majority of treaties and conventions in the legal sphere. For the purpose of appropriately carrying out this work, it became necessary to establish the Division on Realization of International Treaties, which was formed on October 1, 1997”.

Considering the above, I would like to thank Mr. Zadiran for his attempt to give an answer with some nuance of credibility. Unfortunately, he failed, and it is obvious that the Minister of Justice of Belarus does not follow what he was stating in his own interview and he is also reluctant to admit his professional and managerial responsibility.

Despite the fact that he, as the Minister of Justice, is overseeing the performance and the quality of his own sector, which also includes the “INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION DEPARTMENT”, in other words, the Central Authority where Mr. Alyoshin A.A. is head of the Department. The same Mr. Alyoshin who was kind enough to recommend the Law Office of the “Abductor” in his letter dated 2017.05.10! It looks like this “Law Office” is the favorite of the Ministry of Justice in Belarus, I wonder why? I have difficulties believing that it is because of their competence and professional ethics!

He also informed that the Ministry of Justice communicates only with the Central Authorities under the Hague Convention! Very convenient, Mr. Alyoshin, but then why didn’t your department respond to questions regarding the implementation of “The Hague Convention”, raised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sweden? As you should know, there are still answers to be given to questions that have been pending for a very long time!

Aleshin Aleksey Alekseevich (Алешин Алексей Алексеевич)
Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Justice of Belarus

Obviously, the above stated in  Mr. Zadiran’s letter from 2019.11.12 are in conflict with the below description regarding the competence of the “International Cooperation Department” where his colleague Mr. Alyoshin is the head! Either Mr. Zadiran and Mr. Slizhevskiy don’t know the competence of this Department, or they just missed it by coincidence! Therefore, let us refresh our memory!

The International Cooperation Department in Belarus fulfills some of the following basic functions:

• making suggestions on the participation of the Republic of Belarus in multilateral international treaties in the legal field within the competence of the Ministry of Justice as well as on succession to the treaties of the former USSR in the legal field;
• organizing and controlling the execution of requests of institutions of justice of other states on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, reviewing, and forwarding requests of institutions of justice of the Republic of Belarus to competent authorities of foreign states;
• coordinating the activities of institutions of justice of the Republic of Belarus (courts, notaries, and registry offices) related to the execution of treaties on legal assistance, review of applications of citizens and legal entities related to the execution of such treaties;
• consulting citizens on the following issues: obtaining child support from abroad, drawing up requests, and petitions for the execution of judgments of the Republic of Belarus abroad, as well as execution of decisions of foreign courts in the Republic of Belarus, obtaining documents relating to personal and property rights of citizens (on civil registration, education, employment history, etc.) from abroad, contacting the legal authorities of foreign states (daily from 9:00 to 18:00, except Saturdays and Sundays, room.402, tel. 8-017 −211-01-85);
• analyzing and compiling the experience of implementation of international treaties on legal assistance and preparing proposals for improvement of their implementation, performing the functions assigned to the Ministry of Justice within the framework of international treaties in the legal field, as well as preparation of reports on the performance of obligations under such treaties;
• assistance to courts, public notary offices, and civil registry offices in the implementation of international treaties on legal assistance, organization of seminars on this subject;
• preparing proposals and comments on draft international treaties on cooperation in various fields, as well as the conclusions of the Ministry of Justice on compliance of draft international treaties of the Republic of Belarus with the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Belarus;
• fulfilling the functions of the secretariat of the Commission on the implementation of international humanitarian law under the Council of Ministers, record keeping and correspondence of the Commission on matters within its jurisdiction, preparing materials for meetings of the Commission;

Source: https://minjust.gov.by/en/ministry/central_office/international_cooperation_department/

Attached Hereto:

• 2017.05.10 EN CONFIRMATION of Submitted Hague Convention Application to the Central Authorities of Belarus
• 2017.05.10 RU CONFIRMATION of Submitted Hague Convention Application to the Central Authorities of Belarus

Aleshin Aleksey Alekseevich (Алешин Алексей Алексеевич) Ministry of Justice
Head of the International Cooperation Department

Nicolaos AA Cheropoulos
Father of Anthoula and Alexandra
Stockholm, Oct 2019
Reviewed Oct. 2023