BRAZIL / FILE: Brazilian lawyer says U.S. is interfering in justice system in custody case

Record ID: 1514170

  • Title: BRAZIL / FILE: Brazilian lawyer says U.S. is interfering in justice system in custody case
  • Date: 15th March 2009
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (MARCH 11, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF OFFICE OF LAWYER FOR JOAO PAULO LINS E SILVA, STEP-FATHER OF SEAN WHO IS AT THE CENTRE OF THE CUSTODY DISPUTE LAWYER DR SERGIO TOSTES DURING THE INTERVIEW SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) LAWYER DR SERGIO TOSTES, SAYING: "Undoubtedly this case has become so big because of the personal interests of politicians who are com
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2009 19:01
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Legal System
  • Reuters ID: LVA9BL8JDB9FP3MZYGESRHV3DGYH
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The United States is interfering in Brazil's legal system by pressuring the government to return a boy to his U.S. father in a custody fight that has blown up into a diplomatic issue, a lawyer for the boy's Brazilian stepfather said.
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week urged Brazil to push for the return of the 8-year-old boy to New Jersey resident David Goldman. He says his son was abducted by his Brazilian mother in 2004.

    "Undoubtedly this case has become so big because of the personal interests of politicians who are compromising the long and fruitful alliance between Brazil and the United States, is absolutely irresponsible what is happening, " lawyer Sergio Tostes told Reuters late on Wednesday (March 11).
    Tostes, who represents stepfather Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, said U.S.
    Ambassador to Brazil Clifford Sobel had pressured Brazil's government to become involved in the case.
    David Goldman's wife took their son Sean on vacation to her native Brazil in 2004, then divorced him and stayed there in what Goldman says was a case of international child abduction.
    She died last year in childbirth and Silva is refusing to return the boy to Goldman.
    Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on Brazil's government to return Sean.
    Brazil is Latin America's biggest economy and an important regional trade and strategic partner for the United States.
    Local courts in Brazil have declined to grant Goldman custody, despite Brazil and the United States being signatories to an international treaty aimed at curbing cases of child abduction by parents.
    The case is due to be heard in a Brazil federal court. Tostes said the boy's Brazilian family would likely appeal any decision and that the right place for a judgment was family court.

    "The involvement of the federal government is absolutely illegal -- it is acting outside its competence, disrespecting the previous decision that there wasn't a kidnapping."
    He said Sean was a naturalized Brazilian citizen and that local courts had ruled he had not been the victim of a kidnapping. He should stay in Rio de Janeiro, he added, where he has now lived most of his life and has the strongest ties.

    "He has lived five years with Joao Paulo. He has a Brazilian sister. his best interests are to stay where he has adapted, where he has school, where he has friends," said Tostes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register