The “Denial of Justice” against Benji and Sammy continues to outrage more and more people across numerous countries and cultures. This morning, TAMBA (The Twins and Multiple Births Association), has publicly endorsed our cause and have launched a letter writing campaign to UK MPs calling for justice. More details can be found on their website: https://www.tamba.org.uk/SchlesingerTwins.

All you need to do is enter your details and a letter will automatically be sent to your local MP.

Please send and forward our request to friends, relatives, colleagues, acquaintances and anyone else you can think of.

It should only take a few minutes of your time but those well invested minutes may positively change the lives of two suffering little boys forever.

Thank you for your support.

TAMBA endorses the Schlesinger Twins campaign

Dear Mr/Ms MP,

I am writing with regard to the custody case for Samuel and Benjamin Schlesinger (Date of birth 24.05.2009) which is awaiting a new hearing in Austria but currently subject to a lengthy delay.

The family are resident in Austria.  Their mother is Beth Alexander, who is a British citizen and her estranged former husband Michael Schlesinger, the twins’ father, is an Austrian citizen.  On the breakdown of their relationship, the father requested for the boys to be left in his sole custody.  After a hearing, the twin boys were removed from their mother’s care in July 2011 by order of the presiding Austrian judge.  The sudden ruling awarded 100% sole custody to the father with immediate effect and no visiting rights for the mother.

Since the ruling, a number of the judgements made in the case have been called into question by a range of professionals. On appeal, sole custody to the father was reduced to temporary custody as the appeal court felt that there was not enough information available to the judge to justify giving the father custody. At the same time the appeal court directed that the issue of custody should be referred back to the trial judge for further investigation. This was nearly 22 months ago and the only thing the judge has done in accordance with this direction was to order the mother to be mentally assessed. This assessment, by a senior expert in psychiatry, confirmed that ‘neither at the time of the examination nor at any time in the past has Beth Alexander suffered from any form of mental illness’.

The Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba), who highlighted the case, believe that it is in the whole family’s best interests if the case is heard by an independent, impartial tribunal, in public, and within a reasonable amount of time according to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ongoing delays are of little benefit to any of the parties and I would be grateful if you could draw this matter to the attention to the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon William Hague MP,  and ask him to draw it to the attention of his Austrian counterpart to ensure a speedy and timely resolution for all involved.

Many thanks for your time and support.

Yours sincerely,