ST. PETERSBURG, May 15 - RAPSI. The Vaasa District Court in Finland will hear on May 16 Russian citizen Rimma Salonen's case regarding her son who was taken by her ex-husband to Finland in the trunk of the Finnish diplomat's car, her attorney Johan Baeckman told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

Rimma Salonen is only allowed to see her son in the presence of the Finnish social service.

She has disputed the Finnish authorities' decision to assign her ex-husband Paavo Salonen, 70, as their son's only guardian.

The conflict between Paavo and Rimma Salonen occurred several years after they divorced. In 2008, Rimma Salonen took her son Anton to Russia and was then deprived by a Finnish court of custody in absentia. However, several people, including Paavo Salonen, assaulted her and kidnapped Anton in spring 2009, Russian law enforcement agencies say. Paavo Salonen was then assisted by Finnish diplomat Simo Pietilainen and illegally took the child back to Finland.

Rimma Salonen returned to Finland where she was given an 18-month suspended sentence in October 2009 for illegally taking her son to Russia.

Paavo Salonen and Pietilainen avoided criminal liability in Finland for kidnapping Anton. Finnish prosecutors terminated the case against them without filing charges in March 2011. The Russian Foreign Ministry later stated that it was perplexed by the decision.