Psych studies ordered for jailed homeschooling dad

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Psych studies ordered for jailed homeschooling

dad

Just wanted to spend time with state-napped son

Posted: January 01, 2011

10:40 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh

© 2011 WorldNetDaily

Unspecified psychological studies or evaluations have been ordered

for a jailed father who, in violation of the procedures of the

government-run social services that instructed police officers to

abduct his then-7-year-old son because he was being homeschooled,

took him home for a visit.

Details are sketchy about the local court hearing, held just

before Christmas, in the Gotland, Sweden, case involving Christer

Johansson, but a Swedish

broadcast station website reveals that Johansson is accused

of kidnapping or unlawful detention for the Thanksgiving week

incident in which he took his son, now 9, with him following a

social services-supervised visit.

The government took custody of Domenic in mid-2009 when police

officers stormed a jetliner which the family had boarded en route

to a move to India, the home country for Domenic's mother, Annie

Johansson.

"You've

Decided to Homeschool, Now What?"

Government authorities then awarded custody of Domenic to social

services because he was being homeschooled, and he has been

allowed visits with his parents only about once every five weeks

since.

According to reports

from a blog that has been monitoring the family's case,

officials in Gotland decided there should be a "larger study" of

the father and he has been ordered to be held in custody while

those studies are completed.

According to officials with the Home

School Legal Defense Association, which is working with the Alliance Defense Fund

on an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the

family, Christer's brother also has reported Christer was moved to

another prison, near Stockholm.

"He is awaiting a forensic psychological test," the e-mailed

report said.

The case developed in mid-2009 when social services and police

forcibly took custody of Domenic over government concerns he was

being homeschooled. The local courts later denied the parents the

legal representation they sought, demanding instead they be

represented by a government-approved attorney. The courts

ultimately ruled the state must keep custody of Domenic.

Frustrated by the government's intervention, Christer, following

a supervised visit before Thanksgiving, reportedly took his son

with him to visit his family for several days. He later called

authorities to let them know where they were, and police again

swooped in SWAT-team style to take custody of Domenic.This time

police arrested Christer and put him in jail.

As part of the campaign to generate public expressions of concern

to the local court, the HSLDA reported, "[Christer] was arrested

after bringing Domenic home after a supervised meeting. These

extremely rare meetings of one hour every five weeks, and under

close watch of authorities, have been torture for this family, who

have suffered unimaginable psychological stress and pressure."

This

is not the first time that European social workers have

concluded "psychiatric" troubles are linked to homeschooling.

Back in 2007, German social workers forcibly took custody of a

15-year-old girl who was being homeschooled and held her for several

months for evaluations in a psychiatric hospital.

Ultimately, when she turned 16 and was subject to different laws

in Germany, she simply walked away from the custody in which she'd

been held and returned to her family. A court later returned legal

custody to her family.

The original court decision had ordered police officers to take

Busekros – then 15 – from her home, if necessary by

force, and place her in a mental institution for a variety

of evaluations. She was kept in custody from early February until

April.

At that time, Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal

Republic of Germany, commented on the issue on a blog, noting the

government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of

parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by

different world views and in integrating minorities into the

population as a whole."

Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as

for those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but

also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different

beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible

citizens."

The German government's defense of its "social" teachings and

mandatory public school attendance was clarified during an earlier

dispute on

which WND reported, when a German family wrote to officials

objecting to police officers picking their child up at home and

delivering him to a public school.

"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward

so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response.

"... You complain about the forced school escort of primary school

children by the responsible local police officers. ... In order to

avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation

with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring

the religious convictions of the family into line with the

unalterable school attendance requirement."

It was a blog

called FriendsofDomenic that outlined a plan for concerned

parents, homeschoolers and others around the world to let the

Swedish authorities know the case is cause for alarm. The plan was

for people around the globe to send a polite and direct message to

the judge in the case.

Whether that campaign had an impact on the court's actions

remained uncertain.

The Alliance

Defense Fund, an international public interest law team, has

explained the case:

"Despite the ill-advised decision on the part of Mr. Johansson,

the only menace here is a government drunk with its own power,"

said Kiska, legal counsel for the ADF.

"No one in Swedish government seems to be paying attention as this

system tramples this poor family into the dirt," added

Donnelly, with the HSLDA. "It's incredible that after taking Domenic

off a plane because he was being homeschooled in June 2009 he is

still not home. This is an outrage that all free people should

condemn."

Said Kiska, "This sad circumstance is what happens when an

over-powerful government pushes a parent to the point of

desperation, so social services should not pretend to be

surprised. The parents complied with everything expected of them,

and yet the government continued to keep their son under lock and

key.

"Americans beware: This is coming to your doorstep if you are not

vigilant about your government," he warned.

Gustaf Hofstedt, president of the local social services board in

Gotland, has told WND by telephone from Sweden that there is more

to the dispute than homeschooling, but he refused to explain.

"I understand the public debate has been that is a case that is

only concerning the fact of homeschooling," he told WND. "But that

is not the case."

Asked to explain, he said, "I can't answer that question because

of secrecy."

There

also is a petition on behalf of Domenic.