Sarah Childrey
10.2.09
2:49pm
When Christopher Savoie’s two children didn’t show up for the first day of school he began to worry. His ex-wife and their mother, Noriko, took them from Franklin TN to Japan without telling him. Basically, she abducted them. After she abducted them he was granted full custody by a court in Tennessee. However, Japan is not part of the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction. Therefore, they didn’t have to adhere to the court’s decision. They don’t necessarily recognize split custody. "Japan is an important partner and friend of the U.S., but on this issue, our points of view differ," the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said. "Our two nations approach divorce and child-rearing differently. Parental child abduction is not considered a crime in Japan." Japan assumes women to have primary custody without questionSo, Savoie took matters into his own hands and went to Fukuoka to get his children back. Although his ex-wife had abducted them and he had full custody in the states he was charged with abduction in Japan and thrown in jail.
Now, Savoie sits in jail, charged with the abduction of minors. “And his Japanese ex-wife -- a fugitive in the United States for taking his children from Tennessee -- is considered the victim.” In my opinion it isn’t right to view either parents as completely innocent or guilty because there could be more to the story than we know. However, it definitely sounds as though the father was treated unfairly and his hands were tied. The concern shouldn’t be about the parents’ battle but about the well being of the two children. The mother got him arrested, he is facing up to five years in jail. This will indeed affect the future of the children.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/japan.father.abduction/index.html?iref=newssearch
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/10/01/dcl.blogger.bunch.japan.dad.cnn?iref=videosearch
2 comments:
If Japan does not consider parental child abduction a crime, I don't understand why the father was thrown in jail when he tried to go get his children from his ex-wife in Japan. That sounds wrong, like they are being hypocrites about their own laws. Just goes to show you how ugly divorce can be and what it can do to a child. Sad stuff.
Agreed, it does seem as if Japan is being a bit hypocritical. I understand they believe the mother has primary custody, but she didn't have the right to take the children, then he gets arrested for trying to get his kids back. It's a sad thing.
Post a Comment