MOSCOW, January 19 - RAPSI. A court in the United States has ordered Torry Ann Hansen, the adoptive mother of Russian Artyom Savelyev, who shipped him back to Moscow with no more than an abandoning note, to attend the next alimony payment hearing, Children Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Astakhov said earlier that Russia will continue to press for a court order obliging Hansen to pay alimony to her abandoned son until he reaches legal age.
Astakhov said he was informed about the court decision to summon Hansen to appear before court by attorney Ray Stoner, who represents the boy. The hearing will be open to journalists.
"Stoner is a well-skilled lawyer with 45 years of experience,"
Astakhov said. "He has been defending children for 25 years. We are closely cooperating with him in the case. We believe the boy's rights have been damaged and will put his interests first. Artyom has been through a great deal of stress due to his adoptive mother and we believe she must be called to account for what she did."
Savelyev arrived from Washington to Moscow on April 8, 2010 with a note saying Hansen had shipped him back to Russia as he allegedly had mental problems. The boy only spent half a year with her family.
Previously, he lived in the Maritime Territory with his mother. When she was deprived of her parental rights, he spent several years in a children's home.
Artyom currently lives in the Moscow region in a large family along with five other children.