Court: Anton to live with Finnish father
Vaasa Appeal Court has ruled that the custody of Finnish-Russian boy Anton Salonen is to remain with his Finnish father, Paavo Salonen. This is the latest twist in a Finnish-Russian custody case that sparked a diplomatic row between Finland and Russia.
Under the ruling, Anton may only see his Russian mother, Rimma Salonen, in weekly supervised visits.
The child's mother had appealed a lower Finnish court's decision to award custody to the father. The divorced parents have been waging a custody war for several years. The highly publicised case has strained ties between Finland and Russia.
"This is already the 22nd decision in the case," said Paavo Salonen of the latest judgment.
The Anton case has drawn attention on both sides of the border since 2008 when Rimma Salonen kidnapped her son from Finland and took him to Russia. A year later Paavo Salonen brought the boy back to Finland in the boot of a Finnish diplomatic vehicle. The move prompted Russia to send an official diplomatic note to Finnish authorities.
