DFAT assisted in illegal Italian abductions(11 months ago)
FOI material accessed by Pickering Post shows DFAT and its employees in the Italian Embassy were at best cognisant of, and at worst complicit in, the 2010 abduction of four Italian girls to Queensland, Australia.
The mother of the four girls, Laura Garrett, is about to be charged with a criminal offence and is asking Australians for $10,000 to engage a "good Italian criminal Lawyer".
This could now leave the way open for the father, Tomasso Vincenti, to claim substantial damages against the Commonwealth.
Evidence appears to show serious illegalities occurred in the well-publicised Queensland case.
It is a criminal offence to facilitate the abduction of children from Italy and most other first-world countries who are signatories to the Hague Convention. It is also illegal to organise children's passports without the consent of the both parents.
Only in exceptional and proven circumstances, such as the children being in imminent danger from the other parent, can this be permitted. This was clearly not the case as an Italian Family Court had already ruled on the matter and Italy is a co-signatory to the Hague Convention with Australia.
Evidence shows a Jill Worrall of DFAT in Canberra had gone to inordinate lengths to first assist with passports for the girls, to assist with airfares and then conspire with the mother to ensure the father, Tomasso Vincenti, knew nothing of the abductions.
This was all performed and justified on the basis of the mother's unsubstantiated claims to DFAT concerning the father. But no evidence of the mother's claims of violence, cruelty, mental deficiency or any other claims were found to be true by an Italian Court.
The Australian Family Court also subsequently ruled the mother's claims untrue. Yet DFAT was content to accept the mother's word without question while continuing to aid and abet in the abductions.
No employees of DFAT have ever met, nor have they spoken to, the father of the children or his solicitor.
There is no evidence to suggest that DFAT's employees in the Italian Embassy, nor DFAT in Canberra, took any steps whatsoever to determine if the mother's claims were even remotely true.
They could easily have been ascertained, or otherwise, by accessing Italian court records or taking the proper course of seeking out the father to hear his side of the story. He was not contacted.
As is often the case the maternal grandmother was instrumental in the ruse claiming the father had been "watching the girls undress".
It was also claimed he had often hit them over the head. The mother's claims, although serious, were not backed up by any child protection agency, police, court records or even any anecdotal evidence other than the mother's.
"It is incredible that DFAT did not ask for any evidence or even attempt to verify any of the mother's claims which were eventually found to be totally baseless", a member of the paternal family said.
"It became clear the girls were coerced and coached into supporting the claims of the mother and the maternal grandmother."
Ms Garrett's actions and credibility were roundly condemned by Justice Forrest of the Australian Family Court when ruling the children must return to Italy.
It was found she had consistently defied court orders and that she had lied to the Court and authorities.
Justice Susan Keifel of the Australian High Court, in a strange judgment, ruled that the matter be referred to the Full Bench. This prolonged the stressful effect on the girls by a further six months.
The High Court eventually ruled, predictably, that the matter was a Family Court one and the girls had already been heard.Documents reveal DFAT had the Rome departure flight time altered to an earlier one after the mother expressed fear the father might become aware of the flight.
DFAT also loaned the mother the necessary funds to carry out the abductions.
Documents show DFAT was aware that the father had agreed to the issue of passports for the girls on the condition that he travel with them to Australia for a holiday. The mother told the Rome Embassy officials that, "I agreed because I just wanted to get the passports".
DFAT said it had confirmed it had seen the father's form of agreement but they did not take a copy of it nor is it available in the FOI material
Once the mother was assured of the passports she informed DFAT that the father had changed his mind about going. DFAT again took no steps to confirm this with the father or his solicitor.
Mr Vincenti has given an assurance to the Australian Family Court that he would not seek legal redress against the mother but Italian public prosecutors are apparently acting independently.
The mental suffering the children have been exposed to as a result of this abduction conspiracy has apparently been taken seriously by Italian prosecutors if not by DFAT.
Although Mr Vincenti said that the girls had settled in well at home, the trauma will obviously continue to have lasting effects.
When contacted last night, the Rome Embassy refused to comment. DFAT's case officers,
Jill Worrell, Jenny Hobbs and Maria Carpenzano refused to comment.
A spokesperson, when asked if he was comfortable that DFAT had acted properly, hesitantly answered an uncomfortable "yes".
When asked if it was proper that DFAT had arranged alternative fight times to avoid the father's detection, the spokes person avoided answering, referring me to Justice Forrest's ruling.
When told that Pickering Post had numerous copies of correspondence between all parties including the Italian Embassy that showed extensive complicity in the abductions, the spokesman denied there was involvement in any illegality.
