News Agencies – 10 July 2012
An Iranian court has granted Frenchman Dany Laurent custody of his two children after a bitter battle that lasted nearly six years. Laurent, from the eastern French city of Besançon, was reunited with his children nearly two weeks ago after they were kidnapped in 2006 and taken to Iran by his former wife, Fatemah, despite a court order.
Fatemah was convicted of illegally taking the children to Iran and faced three years in jail. However, Laurent took the judge’s advice not to seek her imprisonment. Laurent’s lawyer warned him that the police may not hand over his children as they are Muslims and cannot be raised as non-Muslim. The French father then converted to Islam.
