Boys at centre of custody dispute tell court they want to live in Finland

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The two Finnish-American boys who are at the centre of an international custody dispute have told the Court of Appeals of Eastern Finland on Monday that they want to stay in Finland. At the hearing, Alexander and Jacob Rogers, aged 10 and 13 respectively, said that they are sure that they want to live with their Finnish mother, and to meet their father, John Rogers, during summer holidays in the United States.
      The two gave their depositions to three judges of the court on Friday at the institution where they are staying in Oulu.
      Alexander and Jacob also said that they want to go to school in Espoo.
      A psychologist was present throughout the hearing, and a doctor was on the scene part of the time.
      The hearing was linked with an appeal by the boys’ mother Outi Koski over a decision by Kajaani District Court which had authorised the forced detention of the boys from a farm in Ristijärvi on October 20th.
      On October 29th the Court of Appeals agreed to Koski’s petition to stop the implementation of the order to return the boys to the United States. Since then, Alexander and Jacob have been in the custody of child welfare officials.
     
The Court of Appeals of Eastern Finland began to hear the case on Monday, and the trial continues today, with the examination of witnesses.
      The lawyers of the two parents held on to their earlier positions.
      Elina Sarelius, who represents the father, called for the implementation of the court order to return her client's sons to the United States, and the mother’s lawyer Ville Salonen called for maintaining the suspension of the process, even if the mother’s appeal is rejected.
      The focus of Monday’s arguments was whether or not the boys’ right to determine their place of residence themselves outweighs the decision by the Finnish Supreme Court to send them back to the United States.
     
The Supreme Court based its August decision on the Hague Treaty on Child Abduction, and on the earlier decision by a US court to grant custody to the father.
      In the summer of 2003 Outi Koski did not return her boys from a summer holiday in Finland. In March this year John Rogers abducted his sons as they were going to school. The three got as far as France, where they were detained, and Alexander and Jacob were returned to Finland.
     
In court on Monday, both parents spoke about their good parenting skills.
      At the end of the session the court again went over the events that took place when the boys were detained in Ristijärvi last month.
     
The long-running case has sparked a good deal of comment in the media, with arguments over the use of terms like "Espoo boys" about two children who have spent most of their life in the United States, and over the decision to "Finnglicise" the names of the boys to Jaakko and Aleksi in tabloid coverage.
      Some have pointed to the difficulties of the legal authorities in their being prevented from disclosing as much information as the parties themselves, in particular the children's Finnish mother, are willing to give out.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Court of Appeals suspends return of boys in international custody dispute (29.10.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat