U.S. Mother Implores Swiss Government to Return Son Immediately

OJAI, California (July 21, 2014) –  Jannah Sims, an American mother engaged in a five-year international custody battle for her Swiss-born son, Malik Andina, is seeking the support of the American public and media to compel the Swiss government to uphold its rulings awarding her full parental custody. Sims has started a petition on Change.org in hopes of gaining signatures to urge the court to serve justice and return Malik to her care at once.

“I trusted the Swiss judicial system to allow me to take my son home to America after I was awarded custody in 2008, and again when the ruling was upheld in my favor in 2012, but we are still separated,” said Sims. “While the courts proclaim legal authority to prolong this case, and thus my son’s suffering, separating mother and child over many years is morally unjust.”

The Swiss court has repeatedly failed to enforce its own rulings naming Sims as the custodial parent, most recently in January 2014, when an appeals judgment in her favor was suspended indefinitely without demonstrable cause.

Since this decision, regular communication between Malik and his mother has been illegally severed, and his annual summer trip to the U.S. to visit his mother and little sister, Sims’ child from a subsequent marriage and Malik’s only sibling, has been called off. The case now awaits review by a federal appeals court in Switzerland, and Sims does not know when she will be able to see her son again.

Under the direction of Malik’s father, whose family is politically and socially well-connected, Malik was assigned a Swiss attorney who will not discuss the case with Sims. It has been reported to Sims that the attorney is the father of Malik’s soccer mate, a conflict of interest that has not been called into question by the Swiss court.

Sims believes that prolonged legal proceedings set a dangerous precedent for international child custody cases. Because the case does not fall under the Hague Convention governing international child abductions, Sims has little power to help her son.

Referencing the high-profile case of David Goldman, the American father who fought for custody of his son for five years, Sims believes that public pressure is the most powerful way to get the court to uphold justice. She is asking the public to take swift action to sign her petition, which can be found at:

https://www.change.org/petitions/madam-ambassador-compel-the-swiss-courts-to-enforce-their-rulings-and-return-malik-to-his-mother-in-the-u-s-immediately

Contact:
Jannah Sims, justice4malik@gmail.com
American Embassy in Bern – Amb Levine — 7-14 Sims case

Ltr to Kennedy, Pettit & Namde – US State Dept. — 7-14 Sims Case

Ltr. to American Abroad Caucus Congressional member – with list of members