http://moldypeaches.blogspot.com/2006/08/help-wanted.html
Tim Dick Legal Affairs ReporterNovember 6, 2006
THE mother of two missing Canadian girls is trying a novel legal way to find them: suing members of her estranged husband's Sydney family to force them to say where they are.
Until July, Melissa Hawach had sole custody of her two daughters - Hannah, 5, and Cedar, 3 - and they lived in Calgary.
Her relationship with their father, Joseph Hawach, had broken down, but they maintained regular contact until the children travelled to Sydney with their father to have a holiday with his family.
Mrs Hawach intended to pick them up three weeks later for an Australian holiday of their own. But soon after they left, daily phone calls with the girls stopped and they disappeared.
When Mrs Hawach arrived in Sydney, she was told by a member of the Hawach family that the girls were no longer in Australia.
They are believed to be in Lebanon and, according to a website set up to find the girls, they were last seen travelling with Mr Hawach and his mother, Gladys.
The Missing Children Society of Canada issued a statement saying: "Joseph's family also informed Melissa that the only way the girls would be returned to Australia would be if she agreed to live in Sydney, give Joseph full custody and dropped the charges against him." It said Mr Hawach had dual citizenship of Australia and Lebanon.
After other efforts to find the girls - including asking her in-laws for information - failed, Mrs Hawach's lawyers have begun Supreme Court action.
Under new court rules, third parties to possible litigation can be compelled to reveal what they know before a civil claim for damages is brought. Two of the three family members targeted by this preliminary action have been served with a summons to appear in court tomorrow.
Telephone messages left by the Herald at Mr Hawach's Harris Park home were not returned. According to company records, other family members live at the same address, but no one was returning calls yesterday.
Mrs Hawach's solicitor, Bill Madden of Slater & Gordon, declined to name the family members named in the summons to appear tomorrow, while the Supreme Court does not release court papers before a hearing.
But Mr Madden said the action was intended to help Mrs Hawach - who was "anxious and concerned" - find the girls.
He said that while claims for damages against family members of estranged spouses had been brought overseas, he was not aware of any previous attempt to do so in Australia.
A Cry for Help
2 comments:
I have just seen on the news that 2 mercenaries have been held in Lebanon after assisting in recovering Melissa's beautiful daughters.....I started to feel sick in my stomach and terribly proud and happy that Melissa has gone to such lengths to recover her babies. As a mother of 2 girls I know myself that I would also go to the ends of the earth if I found myself in such a predicament and I applaud and pray and hope that you make it out and can get away from this bastard who has ruined your lives. Your poor little girls who are in a hell hole of a foreign country who would just want to be with their mum...Thank god there were people willing to help you out and I hope they get let off as soon as possible... Again, all my hopes and prayers are with you and your 2 beautiful daughters and may you get to where you need to be and have a life full of security and love xxx
I can not comprehend how any person would condone the use of mercenries to snatch children in a foreign country?? especially Lebanon! Do you not think of the potential consequences for the children?? What must those poor little girls be going through at the moment! It is obvious that the mother was not acting in the best interests of the children, but rather motivated by her own revenge on her ex-husband! I can only pray for those children, what have they done to deserve this???
Post a Comment