Russian mother’s rights violated, French NGO claims

The French human rights organization “Stop Violence” has accused the French and Hungarian governments of violating the rights of Russian citizen Irina Belenkaya and her daughter Eliza Andre.

The organization has addressed a complaint to European Court of Human Rights against France and Hungary, demanding 100,000 euro in compensation.

The head of the group says the French government has treated Irina Belenkaya in a biased manner, favoring her ex-husband Jean-Michel Andre, a French national.

And in Hungary, Eliza was given to her father, which breaches the Convention on Children’s Rights, the group alleges.

A legal battle has been going on for two years over the child, with a French court deciding Eliza should live with her father, while a Russian court decided in her mother’s favor.

Irina Belenkaya was arrested earlier this year in Hungary accompanied by her daughter, after she had been snatched from her father, who had custody of the child in France.

The mother was freed, but a French court allows her visit her daughter three times a month.