MOSCOW, July 5 - RAPSI. Moscow's Tverskoy District Court has rejected the defamation lawsuit lodged by U.S. citizen Torry Hansen, former foster mother of Anton Savelyev, whom she put on a plane back to Russia, against Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Wednesday.
On April 8, 2010, Hansen sent Artyom - who was then only seven years old - back to Russia, alone, with a note stating that she refused to be his foster mother, as he was mentally unstable.
The boy was sent back to Russia only half a year after he was adopted. Artyom had spent his first few years in the Maritime Territory with his mother. When she was deprived of her parental rights, he was taken to live in a children's home.
The cause of the legal dispute is an article titled, "Artyom Savelyev's Foster Mother Does Not Come to Court to Testify," which was published in February on Astakhov's official website.
"In the article, Hansen was named as the boy's foster mother, although in fact she has not been his foster mother for nine months. Thus, Astakhov made a veiled accusation against her of violating Russian law," Maria Yarmush, the plaintiff's representative, said.
Yarmush told journalists that the defendant delivered a reply to the court from the World Association for Children and Parents' (WACAP), where Artyom is still listed as Hansen's foster son. The lawyer claims that this is only the opinion of one organization, and it must be checked for compliance with U.S. law.
The WACAP sued the Hansen family in the Bedford District Court. The organization, which had helped Hansen to adopt Artyom, wanted her to pay 27 percent of her wages to support the child.