Mediation à la Belarus
Mediation in Belarus
The lives of my children or “what is in their best interest” are not important to Liudmila Trafimovich or the primitive and ruthless advisers she is using. These advisers do not follow professional ethics or moral values because their “competence” is derived solely from their connections to some high-rank officials of the Belarusian ”State Administration”.
That is very similar to the caste system in India. Lukashenko is basically the Brahman. Below him are the military and the degenerated administration that supports him. The rest of the Belarusian population is nothing but Dalit, the untouchable ones. In the sense that they are not worthy of being even looked at – they are nobody (from Lukashenko’s perspective).
That is what the structure of the current Belarusian society has looked like since Lukashenko came to power.
The advisers of Liudmila Trafimovich were using my children as a blackmail tool to force me to accept their terms. Their mantra was: “We want everything from you, but you will get nothing in return!” That is called “Mediation à la Belarus”.
I dreamed about sending my children to the best schools abroad one day. But, unfortunately, these people deprived my children and me of that right. I consider Elena Zhdanovich, Irina Bagnich, and the rest of the intellectually degenerated and ”Primitive” individuals I had to deal with in Belarus, to be solely responsible for the destruction of Anthie’s and Alexandra’s life and future development.
Instead, my daughters are now forced to attend a filthy Monastery Sect School, preaching about the sick and ruthless “Russian World” under the management of the Ultra-Nationalist and “Businessman” Andrei Lemeshonok!
Elena Zhdanovich – Irina Bagnich
These two “Ladies” should be locked in the cage behind them!
May 2017, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“MFA”) of Sweden:
On May 10, 2017, the Swedish MFA received confirmation from its counterpart in Belarus that it had registered the Hague request concerning the abduction of my children. However, the Belarusian MFA provided minimal information about the Abductor, Ms. Trafimovich.
Also, the Central Authority of Belarus recommended that I should go through a mediation process. What is very interesting is that Mr. Alyoshin A.A., ”Head of the International Cooperation Department”, suggested a law firm called “Law and Family Mediation” that allegedly specialized in mediation and family matters.
Source:
I recently discovered that Mr. Alyoshin recommends the same Law Office, “Law and Family Mediation”, to other litigating left-behind parents! Can it be that Mr. Alyoshin has a business deal with the two ladies, Elena Zhdanovich and Irina Bagnich?
To all of you visiting this page, don’t fall into this mediation trap, especially if you are litigating in a Lawless State like Belarus! Instead, seek International and qualified mediation support to have a “FAIR” Mediation process!
I found it weird that they would pitch a specific law firm (almost promoting it), and I realized there must be some catch behind Mr.Alyoshin’s “innocent” recommendation.
I spent the following weeks researching this law firm to figure out who was behind this. In the end, I found out that this firm is managed by Elena Zhdanovich and her partner Irina Bagnich. These two ladies are aggressive lawyers with no scruples, and most importantly, they are loyal to the totalitarian regime of Lukashenko.
Because of their loyalty alone, sometimes they appear in the media accepting awards from high-ranked officials in good old Soviet style. Other than this, they are two mediocre professionals with a lack of ethics and morals because they deliberately chose to ignore The Hague Convention’s principles and anything related to the “Rights of Children”.
Meanwhile, my attorney in Greece, Ms. Martha Poni, reconfirmed this information, and we prepared our case accordingly. However, we were still unaware that on April 27, 2017 (i.e., only nine days after my children’s abduction), Ms. Trafimovich rushed to sue me in Belarus for alimony.
I was legally notified about this in July 2017 through the state bodies of Belarus and Sweden. That was one of the (only) two legal notifications under the provisions of The Hague Convention during the entire five years of my legal battle in Belarus.
Besides these two notifications, the Belarusian administration never followed the rules during those five years and never notified me in line with the International or even their domestic local legal requirements. Furthermore, Ms. Trafimovich signed the lawsuit paperwork by herself without specifying her legal representative. Therefore, we understood it was for tactical reasons.
On the 10th & 11th of August 2017, I met attorney Irina Bagnich for the first time in Minsk’s court led by Judge Birulia Olga Anatolievna (Бируля Ольга Анатольевна). I participated in the preliminary hearing regarding my submitted “Hague Claim”. I was well-prepared and brought undeniable evidence and documentation, which my Attorney, A.D., presented.
Source:
When attorney Bagnich started to present the Abductor’s position, I thought it was funny despite the gravity of the situation. She did whatever she could to ignore the remedies of” The Hague Convention” regarding Child Abduction, trying to transform the hearing into a simple custody case that would fall under the legislation of Belarus.
That was, of course, achieved with the blessings of judge Berulia Olga A., who notoriously is known as the” Queen of Unfair Trials”. But unfortunately, Berulia Olga A. is also known for ignoring human and child rights.
Source:
https://zubr.cc/judge/1175/
Politically-Motivated Prosecution
In other words, judge Berulia is nothing else but a dedicated servant of Lukashenko’s regime who makes money by mutilating the law.
When my attorney tried to protest how Irina Bagnich proceeded, judge O.A. Berulia gave him a horrible look, and he sat down! When I saw this, I was shocked, and during a break, I asked him whether it is normal that attorneys are peeing their pants when a judge looks at them in Belarus. I really regretted that my attorney, Ms. Martha Poni from Greece, could not represent me in the courtrooms of Belarus. What I witnessed there was simply ridiculous and absurd.
That day, I was repeatedly advised to accept the mediation as a solution proposed by judge O.A. Berulia. I firmly believe that this was their well-tested set-up to force me into a mediation process during which they would try to get quickly rid of me. Not suspecting what would follow, I accepted the proposal, and later in the evening of the same day, I went to the proposed Mediator with my Attorney, A.D. We met there with Liudmila Trafimovich and her Attorney, Irina Bagnich.
Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake; the whole mediation process in Belarus is a joke. In the end, I basically just told them that I was not going to make any compromises about my children’s return to Sweden.
During the mediation process, the Mediator wanted to talk with Liudmila Trafimovich and me separately and privately. I was the first to step inside the Mediators’ office, and she immediately started trying hard to convince me to accept their terms and conditions. Throughout the whole process, my children were used as a tool to put pressure on me. In a nutshell, this is how they proceed; they start pushing on you to accept all their terms and conditions, and in return, you will get a handful of nothing.
The whole mediation in Belarus was about alimony and nothing else! They completely ignored my children or what really was in their BEST INTERESTS FOR THEM! I had enough of this parody at some point, and I told the Mediator that they ”ALL” could go and f…ck themselves.
I paid the fee for both Liudmila Trafimovich and me, and I left with my Attorney, A.D., who was smiling when I came out from the Mediator’s office because he could hear everything outside in the hallway.
The mental mindset of the public servants and some lawyers in Belarus can be described as a severe “Inferiority & Wannabe Complex” because they literally find pleasure in making the foreign parent as miserable and humiliated as possible.
That is how they validate their feelings of importance and power. As we know, such behavior typically occurs when it is encouraged from the top. These people feel secure and valuable, at least in their tiny little world and backyard.
My Swedish Attorney, Ms. L.R.
My attorney in Sweden, Ms. L.R., who speaks the Russian language fluently, tried to communicate with the representative of LiudmilaTrafimovich after the hearing in August 2017. My attorney in Sweden was hoping that she would be able to find a compromise so that I could have access to my children and meet with them while The Hague Case is pending.
After that, Ms. L.R. tried to talk with Attorney Irina Bagnich. She called me back, shocked, saying, “This attorney must have severe mental problems! It was impossible to talk with her professionally”!
All the lawyers and other parties involved in my case understood very quickly what kind of tactics and strategy was applied by this law office. Their main plan is to cut you off from your children as much as possible and use it as a blackmail tool to force you to accept their terms and conditions. Thus, this will never happen – these filthy and ruthless authoritarian methods do not work on me, Elena Zhdanovich, and Irina Bagnich, and it only proves that nobody cares about what is in the best interests of a child!
Article Published in October 2017.
In the middle of 2018, I found out that in October 2017, the law office “Law and Family Mediation” that represented Liudmila Trafimovich published a pitiful and amateurish article (2017.10.27 EN ARTICLE Published by Trafimovich Law Office Author Elena Zhdanovich).
It was a very poorly written article, accusing, defaming, and slandering me and the whole of Scandinavia (including Sweden). This article was pathetic and insulted anyone’s intellect. Please note that they did this behind my back. I was never given a chance to answer the insane statements and allegations presented by Elena Zhdanovich, who wrote the article. My attorneys in Belarus noticed this article but did not tell me anything because they considered it trash.
Source:
Belarusian Women Take Their Children Home and Accused of Abduction October 27, 2017
Below please find a few excerpts from this article that I would like to comment on now:
# “It is good when adults can negotiate”
I absolutely agree – a competent and well-educated attorney/mediator who cares about “The Best Interest of a Child/Children” will undoubtedly try to convince and advise their client that they must negotiate and make compromises! Did you or your partner Irina Bagnich give such advice to your client, Liudmila Trafimovich? I don’t think so!
# “The man refused to marry her”
Can Elena Zhdanovich explain how she verified and confirmed this allegation to us? Has she ever contacted “the man” she is accusing of this? The answer is NO!
“Attorney” Elena Zhdanovich, please note that the man you are accusing of not marrying your client asked Liudmila Trafimovich to sign a prenuptial agreement, but she refused to do so.
Maybe you should ask her why? Also, I did not know that it is a crime for a man not to marry a woman in Belarus. Has it ever crossed your shallow mind that, most likely, there was a reason not to marry Liudmila Trafimovich?
# “Liudmila Trafimovich did not take her daughters (2 and 5 years old) to gay parades, and she raised her voice at children when they didn’t obey, etcetera”
How did Elena Zhdanovich verify and confirm this allegation? Has she ever asked me for my feedback? The answer is NO!
I am not a fan of gay parades (although I respect and tolerate them), and I did not allow your client Liudmila Trafimovich to beat up our children when she was out of control. I guess Liudmila Trafimovich never bragged about her beating of our kids, huh? But, of course, she did not because she was now trying to paint herself as an innocent angel with golden wings.
# “Such actions are considered there (in Sweden) to be religious fanaticism. The father complained about it to the psychologists and the social services protecting children’s rights. All of the “violations” of the mother mentioned could have led to taking her children away from her”
Can Elena Zhdanovich clarify how did she come to this conclusion? Have you, Elena Zhdanovich, ever done any qualified research to verify and confirm such serious allegations against a country or a person you do not know? A person you and your partner Irina Bagnich did not bother to contact for his feedback or comment on this? You could have easily found answers using a simple Google search, and you could read them in Russian on the sites of the Public Administration of Sweden.
Sweden takes transparency towards its citizens seriously because, in contrast to Belarus, they still support the idea of democracy.
What Elena Zhdanovich wrote in the article only proves that she has no idea what about she is talking. If I ever reported her client’s misbehavior and unstable mental health to the Swedish Social Authorities, she would certainly not be able to abduct our children to Belarus and use them as a tool together with her lawyers to blackmail me.
I hope ”Attorneys” Elena Zhdanovich and Irina Bagnich
have enough intellect to understand this.
On the other hand, we can read in several Belarusian media about the local Belarusian Social Authorities that are suppressing and blackmailing parents, threatening them to take away their children because they oppose the ”Totalitarian” regime of Belarus! We also know what International Organizations say about Children’s Rights in Belarus or about Human Rights in general. Time to look into the mirror, ladies.
Source:
RFERL 2020.07.24: Unregistered Opposition Presidential Candidate Tsapkala, Children Flee Belarus
Recently, we represented the interests of a foreign citizen who requested the return of his wife and children from Belarus to America. The children were born and lived there for a long time. We invited the parties to the dispute to negotiate and reached an agreement.
# “The couple decided the children would live with their mother until they were ten y.o. They could then make their own decision”.
I dare to say that the law office “Law and Family Mediation” deceived (screwed) the left-behind parent from the USA, and, most likely, the parent already found out.
I could also use the methods of these two ladies to defame and slander attorneys Elena Zhdanovich and Irina Bagnich publicly. To call them ”Fascists”, ”Incompetent”, and ”Mediocre” professionals with severe inferiority complexes, narcissists who are using their connections and kissing the butt of public servants, like the Ex-Minister of “Justice” SLIZHEVSKIY Oleg Leonidovich to win a litigation battle. However, I will not sink to their level to do this.
Source:
Ex-Minister of “Justice” SLIZHEVSKIY Oleg L.
https://zubr.in/member/11
https://rupep.org/en/person/8236
The law office’s tactics and strategy, “Law and Family Mediation”, prove only one thing, they are mediocre professionals with no ethics or morals. In any other law-abiding country, these two amateurs would lose their attorney license for this kind of allegation and defamation campaign. But in Belarus, they can do this as long as they are loyal to the corrupt regime. Loyal ass-kissers of Lukashenko have a good life in Belarus!
However, once you read the comments below this article, you can see how their actions hit Zhdanovich and Bagnich back like a boomerang. People disagreed with the fabricated story because they underestimated the intellect of the Belarusian people.
These two “Ladies” and the other of Lukashenko’s mentally dysfunctional servants are solely responsible for destroying Liudmila Trafimovich and my children’s chance to have a decent life and future.
May 2018, and the Observer from the Greek Consulate.
My Greek attorney Ms. Martha Poni used the paperwork regarding my children that had previously (in the summer of 2016) been filed and signed by Ms. Liudmila Trafimovich. Ms. Poni legally applied for my children to become Greek citizens. The decision that my children become Greek citizens was published in the Government Newspaper of Hellas (Greece). The fact that they are now Greek citizens allows the Greek administration to get involved in this abduction as well, to some extent.
In early 2018 Attorney Ms. Poni started to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, which referred her to a specific officer at the Embassy of Hellas (Greece) in Moscow. After the established communication channel with the Embassy in Moscow, Ms. Poni got what she was looking for, and it was even much better than expected. As a result, Ms. Poni arranged the Greek Honorary Consul’s participation as an observer on May 16 in the court where my Cassation Appeal (Hague and Custody) would be heard and processed.
The Honorary Consul of Greece is a Greek national born in Georgia who studied in Belarus and decided to stay and live there. He is a well-known and “respected” businessman. The Greek Honorary Consul was just present as an “observer” in the hearing of my appeals at the Minsk City Court on May 16, 2018, together with my second representative from Belarus, Attorney Ms. L.A.
And interestingly, a decision was ruled in my favor for the first and only time; both decisions ruled by Judge Birulia on the Hague Case and of the Custody Claim of Liudmila Trafimovich were canceled and considered to be illegal (!). So, they were sent back to Oktyabrsky District Court for its new review.
After some time, I learned that Liudmila Trafimovich sent a complaint to the Greek Consulate in Minsk. Of course, her lawyer wrote this letter, but Liudmila Trafimovich signed it; otherwise, Irina Bagnich and Elena Zhdanovich would have had problems.
After this, the Honorary Greek Consul avoided participating as an observer in my litigation process in Belarus. So, we understood that somebody squeezed and put him under pressure.
That was also confirmed by Liudmila Trafimovich herself because she looked at me excitedly in one of our meetings later that year and told me, “We fixed your Greek Consul”!
As you can see, attorneys Irina Bagnich and her partner Elena Zhdanovich use all the possible methods to achieve their goals. I have also been accused of offending the State of Belarus because I expressed my opinion that my children live in a ghetto surrounded by alcoholics (which is true). This way, they tried to add a political layer to my case to make me look like an enemy of Belarus, which was not true.
My Children’s Residence in Minsk
I suggest that attorneys Elena Zhdanovich and Irina Bagnich
swap residences with Liudmila Trafimovich so my children can live
in a decent and safe area.
However, if everything is so rosy and perfect in the paradise of Belarus, why do some Belarusian attorneys send their child/children to study in Germany? Can Irina Bagnich answer this question? Will Irina Bagnich tell her son to return from Germany to participate in the war against Ukraine?
As we all know, Belarus has been in the middle of a war zone since February 2022, supporting Russia in its aggression against Ukraine.
In April 2019, my article was published in Belarus by tut.by
In April 2019, I published an article about my case in Belarus. I asked the reporter to invite Ms. Trafimovich and her representative Irina Bagnich to allow them to explain themselves – this was my precondition presented to the reporter. However, they never gave me the same chance.
Source:
Liudmila Trafimovich and her representative did not disappoint anyone. In response, they continued to defame and slander Sweden and me to justify and escape from the main issue, the actual ABDUCTION of my children.
June 2019
Early in June 2019, I received a letter from Liudmila Trafimovich. She attacked and accused my Belarusian attorney Ms. E.M. of helping me publish the article and involving more and more authorities in Belarus.
Please note that this article has been published thanks to my own efforts and without involvement from my representatives in Minsk. It is time for Liudmila Trafimovich and her representatives to understand that after many years of litigation (since 2017) in Minsk, I have met many people in Belarus who respect me, and some have become my friends. These people showed great sympathy regarding the UNFAIR battle for my children that I was going through in Belarus. These people understood very well what and with whom I was dealing.
Regarding my attorney Ms. E.M., this lady always did a good job and professionally protected my interests. She was the only attorney who did not sit down when the judge gave her a nasty look, and she continued to stay firm, defending my interests.
Once again, Ms. Trafimovich and her representatives try to insult the intellect of the Belarusian people with their insane statements and accusations. However, it did not work out this time either, and I am thankful and obliged to all the Belarusian people who drew their conclusions.
The Facebook site of the law office that Ms. Trafimovich was using includes many posts in which these lawyers are bragging about the awards they receive from higher-ranked Belarusian officials. One of the awards they received lately was handed over to them by the Ex-Minister of “Justice” O.L. Slizhevskiy, even though previously, I did notify him about the methods used by this law office.
Elena Zhdanovich & ex-Minister of Justice Oleg L. SLIZHEVSKIY
Every time this “Independent” law office managed to deceive a left-behind parent, they got awards from O.L. Slizhevskiy and other high-ranked officials. That exactly is what they call to have a “Krysha” in the Russian language – this means “Roof”, protection from above.
When I started dating Ms. Trafimovich years ago, she told me that if you have a “Krysha” in Belarus, you can do whatever you want, and nobody touches you. I did not quite understand the meaning of what she was telling me then, but now I KNOW!
The Ex-Minister of Justice of Belarus, Oleg L. Slizhevskiy, is a ”Political Prostitute”, ”Hypocrite”, and part of Lukashenko’s “Political Mafia”.
As long as there are attorneys like Elena Zhdanovich and Irina Bagnich and no independent Bar Association, Belarus will continue to be a lawless state without any judicial security and justice, ruled by incompetent and mentally disabled public servants without any dignity.
Media news from October 15, 2020:
Aleksandr Pylchenko, a Minsk City Bar Association member for 30 years, suddenly lost his license. That is yet another example of legal default and judicial corruption.
The criminals still ruling Belarus have shown again that they are afraid of the truth, scared of professionals who follow the law and for whom the law is above all.
Alexander Pylchenko is an honest lawyer!
On April 8, 2021, another lawyer, Dmitry Laevsky from Minsk, was summoned to appear in initiated disciplinary proceedings. Mr. Laevsky was the Attorney of Mr. Viktor Babariko.
Source:
Dmitry Laevsky
https://www.facebook.com/viktar.babaryka
Dmitry Laevsky is an honest lawyer!
Citations:
“I was even surprised when the Ministry of Justice started controlling and checking on me (performing three checks in six months). They accused me of telling the media that I had not been allowed to visit my client Nyaklyaeu for several days. They canceled my license on a formal occasion. For some time, I thought (it was not a naive faith, but the faith of a lawyer) that the court would understand what happened because two plus two is always four. However, this did not happen”.
“The essence of a lawyer’s work is to represent his client’s interests. A lawyer’s work is to follow the law and the rules of ethics, and not “recommendations” or requirements of some colleagues or authorities”.
I had a choice; to work independently as any lawyer would do and risk my professional future, or be guided by the “advice” of the board and authorities contrary to legal obligations and ethical standards.
In practice, my decision to do my job correctly meant a forced change of three positions. They demanded that I not disclose unprecedented law violations concerning clients and stop actively defending their rights.
When I was forbidden to leave the territory of Belarus because of “evading draft measures”, the law community took no action despite my calls to protect me from illegal pressure. On the contrary, they repeatedly made it clear to me that at least I would not be allowed to continue law practice. Therefore, I was forced to consider the option of continuing my studies.
Source:
2022.05.20 Detention of lawyer Alexander Danilevich
2022.11.21 Persecution of lawyers in Belarus after the 2020 elections
2021.12.15 Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kirilyuk: “We should never stop resisting”
2021.02.20 Four Belarusian lawyers stand to lose licenses
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