Ombudswoman seeks tougher penalties for parents who do not allow child to see the other parent

Ombudswoman for children's rights Tamara Plamadeala submitted a legislative initiative to the Parliament, which provides for the introduction of stricter punishments for the parents that do not allow the child to communicate with the other parent, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the Center for Human Rights of Moldova. The request was made after a woman from Soroca complained to the ombudswoman that her daughter-in-law does not allow her son to see his child. From October 2005 until December 2009, the child, together with the parents, lived at her grandparents in Soroca town. After a family quarrel, the woman took her daughter and went to her parents in Edinet town without informing the father and the parents-in-law. Tamara Plamadeala made an approach to the Social Assistance and Family Protection Division in Edinet, but was told that the psychological environment and the conditions in the family where the mother and daughter live are good. The tutelage authority in Soroca could not draw up a schedule of meetings between the father and daughter as the child lives in Edinet, but the tutelage authority there received no relevant application. The mother and grandparents of the girl want that the child is visited by the father and the other grandparents only in the presence of a witness as they file complaints distorting the truth after they leave. The sides reached an agreement only after they had a discussion in the presence of the senior specialist for chidlren's rights of the Social Assistance and Family Protection Division in Edinet. “The child must be able to communicate with the other relatives – sisters, brothers, grandparents and others, as stipulated in article 52 of the Family Code,” Tamara Plamadeala said.