FEDERAL MINISTRY REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA

 

Good afternoon Ms Schmid,

I write in regard to Mag. Botta's letter to a Ms Ruth Leveson dated 24. February 2022.

Naturally the details of the case cannot be disclosed to third parties.

I respect that the case was conducted by independent courts of law and wanted to bring to your attention some irregularities which may have fallen through the cracks in Austria's otherwise very good justice system.

1. There has been no "Serious Case Review" of the whole case by independent judges. An Austrian appeal court in October 2011 upheld the mother's allegation that a senior judge, Mag. Konstanze Thau, interceded irregularly on behalf of the father - a close personal friend and alleged abuser - to prejudice the decision of Mag. Susanne Göttlicher. Your appeal court ordered a new evaluation of the mother and returned the case to the lower court. At present, the lower court has not considered the High-court-ordered evaluation and has not given a reason for this. The most recent appeal decision does not review or revisit the alleged irregularities in the original custody award. In addition, Mag. Gottlicher was allowed to hear the application for a change of judge, whereas this should have been heard by an impartial judge. We are therefore urging a serious case review by the Austrian Judiciary under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Impartiality of the Judiciary.

2. The mother has a plausible allegation of domestic violence. Ms Alexander’s case is being supported by Domestic Violence organisation Jewish Women’s Aid: Dozens of expert professionals have considered the mother’s testimony to be truthful. The Austrian state is currently leaving children in the custody of a man whom professionals consider coercively controlling. UK law considers witnessing domestic abuse to be child abuse. If Austrian law is the same, then leaving child victims of alleged abuse in the custody of a man whom expert professionals consider likely to have abused their mother in their presence is an urgent matter for the courts.

I would appreciate if you could pass these concerns to Mag. Botta for a determination as to whether a serious case review is indicated.

Many thanks

#ReunitingBethWithHerBoys #HelpBeth