Social workers drag boy from plane, get dragged into court
Swedish officials accused of destroying family over homeschooling
By Bob Unruh
For half of his life, 14-year-old Domenic Johansson has been in the custody of social services agencies in his home country of Sweden after agents forcibly removed him from a jet on which he and his parents were preparing to leave for his mother’s home country of India, because he was homeschooled.
For much of that time, he’s been denied permission to see or talk to his parents. Social services agencies even have denied him contact with extended relatives, and he was refused permission to attend the funeral of his grandmother.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - June 4, 2016
Government leaves family 'broken into a million pieces'
Court won't allow homeschooling parents to even see 'state-napped' son
By Bob Unruh
The highest court in Sweden has refused even to consider allowing parents to see their now-14-year-old son, who essentially was “state-napped” by social-service workers at age 7 merely because he was homeschooled.
Word of the decision comes from the Home School Legal Defense Association, which has been working with other groups including the Alliance Defending Freedom and lawyer Ruby Harrold-Claesson, of the Nordic Committee on Human Rights, on the case involving Domenic Johansson.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - December 2, 2015
Swedish Dad: My Family has been “Broken into a Million Pieces”
HSLDA
The Swedish Supreme Court has declined to hear the latest, and possibly last, appeal of Christer and Annie Johansson to be reunited with their son. This ruling paves the way for the parents to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, but that court has not been favorable to this family or to homeschooling-related claims.
HSLDA, hslda.org - December 1, 2015
New hope for 'state-napped' homeschooler
Boy yanked off jetliner by police in armed SWAT raid at age 7
By Bob Unruh
An appeal by parents of a “state-napped” Swedish boy who was taken into government custody because he was homeschooled has been rejected by an international court in Europe, which blasted the parents for preventing their son from going to school and keeping him “isolated from children of his own age.”
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - 2015-05-04
Help the Johansson Family Renew Their Case
Originally Seized for being Homeschooled, Son has been Held by State Since 2009
Christer and Annie Johansson haven’t seen their son Domenic, now 12 years old, since November 2010. They recently contacted HSLDA to spread the news that they are asking all of their supporters to contact the Swedish court that will hear their new case on Thursday, March 26.
This family’s battle has been long, hard, and painfully disappointing. After 7-year-old Domenic was initially seized in June 2009, a Swedish appeals court permanently transferred custody of Domenic to a third-party custodian and terminated Christer and Annie’s parental rights in December 2012.
HSLDA, hslda.org, March 24, 2015
Swedish Court Rejects Homeschool Family’s Desperate Appeal
In a perfunctory order the Swedish Supreme Court rejected a desperate appeal by Christer and Annie Johansson, parents of Dominic Johansson, who was torn from his parents while minutes from take-off on an international flight as the family prepared to move to India. There were no pending criminal or civil charges at the time. By rejecting the appeal, the court upholds an appeals court ruling that effectively terminated the parental rights of Christer and Annie Johansson. United States courts have called the termination of parental rights the family court equivalent of the death penalty.
HSLDA, hslda.org, April 30, 2013
Homeschool parents lose fight to keep their child
According to Swedish law, all children have to go to school. But not everyone agrees -- some parents want to educate their children at home.
Radio Sweden reports on a case where a seven-year old child was taken away from his parents, and the boy was placed in a foster home. The parents say it was partly because they refused to send their child to school. On Thursday, the Swedish Supreme Court decided not to take up their case.
Sveriges Radio, sverigesradio.se - 29 april 2013
Desperate Homeschooling Parents Plead for Help - Hope Court Will Hear Case
Family’s Attorney Says: “Let Them Know the World is Watching.”
Annie and Christer Johansson’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Sweden may be their last hope to see their son again. They haven’t seen him in nearly three years.
HSLDA, hslda.org, April 16, 2013
Swedish Nightmare: The Social Services Department, Long Arm of the Social Dictatorship
By Christopher C.M. Warren
The Domenic Johansson case in Sweden, in which the State has abducted a child from its parents, is winding to a close. It is a case that is emblematic of the tyranny that is tightening its fist around most of the nations of the West, America included.
American Daily Herald, americandailyherald.com, 20 December 2012
Swedish Appeals Court Ends Parental Rights
First the Swedish government took their son away. Now an appeals court has terminated their parental rights -- all because they homeschooled their son.
Dominic Johanson has been in state custody since 2009.
CBN News, December 17, 2012
Sweden revokes parental rights of homeschooling family after three year ordeal
By LifeSiteNews staff
On Monday, December 10, 2012, also International Human Rights Day, a Swedish appeals court reversed a lower court ruling in favor of Annie and Christer Johansson and terminated their parental rights in regard to their son, Domenic.
LifeSiteNews, December 12, 2012, (HSLDA.org)
Johansson Family Deprived of Justice on Human Rights Day
By Robin Phillips
An appeals court has handed down a verdict that Domenic Johansson will not be returned to his parents, following a separation of three and a half years. The ruling overturns the decision of the Gotland district court from June this year, which found that there were no grounds for terminating Christer and Annie Johansson’s parental rights. Ironically, the decision was rendered yesterday, the day that is celebrated throughout the world as Human Rights Day 2012.
Christian Voice, December 11, 2012
Family Execution— Swedish Style
Appeals Court Reversal Stuns Parents of Boy Seized by the State
HSLDA
On Monday, December 10, 2012, also International Human Rights Day, a Swedish appeals court reversed a lower court ruling in favor of Annie and Christer Johansson and terminated their parental rights in regard to their son Dominic.
HSLDA, hslda.org - December 10, 2012
Johansson Family Back in Court
Swedish Officials Again Seek to Terminate Parents’ Custody of Domenic
HSLDA
The Social Welfare Committee responsible for keeping Domenic Johansson separated from his parents for more than three years has appealed the June 2012 court ruling that upheld Christer and Annie Johanssons’ parental rights. The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm will hear the appeal this week on November 22 and 23.
HSLDA, hslda.org - November 20, 2012
Parents shed tears over homeschool-crackdown horrors
By Alex Newman
BERLIN, Germany – Countless tears were shed at the first Global Home Education Conference here as homeschooling parents told horror stories of having to flee vicious persecution in their home countries – mostly Sweden and Germany, but other places as well.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - 05 November 2012
Nightmare soon to end?: Court vindicates Swedish homeschooling parents in state kidnapping case
By Ben Johnson
A Swedish homseschooling couple may shortly be reunited with their son after a prolonged separation, after a Swedish court has judged that the couple did not act irresponsibly by removing their children from the public school system.
LifeSiteNews, lifesitenews.com - June 15, 2012
Swedish Court Vindicates Homeschooling Parents
Charisma News Staff
A Swedish district court has ruled that the parental rights of a 10-year-old boy abducted by the government three years ago for being home-schooled will not be terminated.
The court stated it could not ignore the unanimous and extensive testimony of firsthand accounts of friends, family and others that Domenic Johansson’s parents, Christer and Annie, were properly caring for him prior to Swedish authorities seizing him in 2009.
Charisma News, charismanews.com - June 15, 2012
Parents of Boy Seized by State Hopeful after Favorable Court Ruling
HSLDA - Breaking News
In a major breakthrough, a Swedish district court has ruled that the parental rights of Annie and Christer Johansson will not be terminated. In its 23-page detailed opinion, the court stated it could not ignore the unanimous and extensive testimony of firsthand accounts of friends, family and others that Dominic Johansson was being properly cared for by his parents prior to Swedish authorities seizing him on June 26, 2009.
The boy and his parents were on board a jetliner minutes from departing Sweden for Annie’s home country of India when Dominic was seized. Authorities justified the taking by pointing to the fact that Dominic was homeschooled. Since then, the family has pursued numerous court actions only to lose in all of them until now.
Homeschool Legal Defence Association, hslda.org - June 14, 2012
Parents of 'State-Napped' Boy Hopeful after Favorable Court Ruling
By Jeremiah Lorrig
Court rules that Christer and Annie Johansson will retain custody of their son; Domenic still in state foster care
Christian News Wire, christiannewswire.com - June 14, 2012
Domenic Johannson May Be Going Home
By Dale Hurd
I received word this evening that the parents of Domenic Johansson, the Swedish homeschooled boy abducted by authorities in 2008, have won the case in which Swedish Social Services tried to have their parental rights terminated.
The five-judge panel decided 4-1 in favor of Christer and Annie Johansson, with judges reportedly questioning the grounds for taking Domenic away in the first place.
CBN News Sr. Reporter, CBN News, blogs.cbn.com - June 13, 2012
Swedish court declares mom, dad of abducted home-schooled boy to be fit parents
Domenic Johansson still in government captivity after three years
GOTLAND, Sweden — A Swedish district court has ruled that the parental rights of a 10-year-old home-schooled boy abducted by the government three years ago will not be terminated. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Home School Legal Defense Association are legal advisors to the parents, who are represented by Ruby Harrold-Claesson of the Nordic Committee on Human Rights.
The court stated it could not ignore the unanimous and expansive testimony of first-hand accounts of friends, family, and others that Domenic Johansson’s parents, Christer and Annie, were properly caring for him prior to Swedish authorities seizing him in 2009.
ADF Media, adfmedia.org - 14 June 2012
Red Ice Radio - Christer Johansson - Abduction of Domenic Johansson by Swedish Social Services
Red Ice Radio, YouTube - 18 April 2012
Swedish Home-School Family ‘Broken to pieces‘
By Dale Hurd, CBN News Sr. Reporter
GOTLAND, Sweden -- It's been called one of the worst cases of government abuse ever committed against a home schooling family: the abduction by Swedish authorities of Domenic Johansson, a happy, healthy, 7-year-old boy taken from his parents Christer and Annie Johansson in 2009 as they waited to leave Sweden on a flight to India.
After the abduction, the Johanssons' story spread quickly on the Internet.
But three years later, Domenic is still being kept from his parents, and Swedish authorities keep finding new reasons for why the child can't go home.
CBN News, cbn.com - March 21, 2012
Pressure is mounting on a state-run social services agency in Sweden to return to his parents a 10-year-old boy who was taken into custody because he was being homeschooled, after the European Court of Human Rights ruled such separations can cause harm to children.
Domenic Johansson, then 7, was grabbed by police officers who descended on a jetliner he and his parents, Christer and Annie, had boarded in a move to his mother’s home country of India.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - February 13, 2012
A judge has handed defeat to a social services agency that dispatched police officers to an India-bound jetliner more than two years ago to take into custody a 7-year-old boy because he was being homeschooled.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - December 23, 2011
Private eye rescues kids in night-time missions. Returns children taken by social services to parents
By Bob Unruh
It’s not quite real-life “Spy Kids” even though the adventure certainly is there.
It seems a Polish private investigator, dubbed “Rambo” by fans, has found a solution to the problems created when social services workers in the Nordic countries take custody of children against the wishes of family members: Simply “kidnap” the kids and give them back to the parents.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - August 21, 2011
Abducted homeschooler's case finally advances
By Bob Unruh
Police took child from his parents only because of education at home
It’s been some nine months since family advocates pleaded with the European Court of Human Rights to look into the case of a Swedish child taken by police from his parents and isolated with government-sponsored foster parents because he was being homeschooled, and now a case number has been assigned.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - April 17, 2011
While the Swedish Family Court plans another hearing on the Domenic Johansson kidnapping case, many observers ask, "Why bother?"
Friends of Domenic Johansson
Don't get me wrong. I believe the Johanssons should be in court fighting tooth and nail until their son has been rightfully restored to them, and I will support them to the best of my ability until that day finally arrives. As far as I am concerned, they've never had a real court trial in this case. Instead, these dear, gentle people have stood tried and convicted as guilty since June 25th, 2009, months before ever setting foot into an LVU court room.
Friends of Domenic Johansson, Blogspot.com, April 17,2011
Father jailed for visit with son set free. 'Released today, after 2 terrible months!'
By Bob Unruh
A Swedish father who was jailed by authorities for taking his son, in state custody because social services workers worried he was being homeschooled, home for a visit has been released from his incarceration.
Word came to WND tonight via an e-mail from Christer Johansson, who said, "I was released from jail today, after 2 terrible months! … When the judge read the verdict, he said, '2 months in jail, already served, 15000 [kroner] in compensation to Domenic and then 2 years probation.'"
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - January 22, 2011
Dominic Johansson’s father on trial today
By Daniel Hammarberg
Today Gotland district court held its main proceedings against Christer Johansson, who’s charged with kidnapping or possibly unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Madness in Sweden, The Telegraph / Hammarberg - December 20th, 2010
Tell Sweden to quit punishing jailed dad. Facing trial for taking son home to see grandparents
By Bob Unruh
The case circumstances of the battle between the Johansson family and Swedish social services agencies are stark:
7-year-old Domenic Johansson in mid-2009 is abducted by social services workers from parents because they were homeschooling.
Courts rule state has right to keep custody and even after 18 months, he's allowed to see his mom and dad only about an hour every five to six weeks.
Frustrated father sneaks son home for unauthorized visit so he can see grandparents.
Father arrested, jailed, facing trial on counts of "interference."
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - December 17, 2010
Dad gets jail for son's visit home. 'Only menace here is government drunk with its own power'
By Bob Unruh
A father has been jailed and is facing a trial where he could be sent to prison for up to 10 years after bringing his son, who was "state-napped" by police on the instructions from social services workers in 2009, back to his home for a day-and-a-half visit with relatives.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - November 30, 2010
Distraught father takes son home
After a year-and-a-half of disappointing court cases and state-supervised one hour visits once every five weeks with his only child, an understandably distraught father accused of no crimes against his son, took his 9 year old son, Domenic, home for an extended visit with family on Monday, November 22nd. Christer Johansson had no apparent motive other than to have more time with his son and to allow Domenic's grandparents, who had not seen their grandson in nearly a year-and-a-half, a chance to see their grandchild. On Wednesday, November 24th, Christer telephoned Alva police to inform them he and Domenic could be found at home.
Posted on Friends of Domenic Johansson - November 29, 2010
The Domenic case is far from unique
By Daniel Hammarberg
Since Sweden introduced barnavårdslagen, "the child welfare law," in 1924, the act which enabled the state to take children into custody without their parents' consent, quite a few Swedes have faced relocation into foster care on dubious grounds. As the supply of foster homes wasn't nearly enough to meet the new demands of the grandiose plans for solving societal ills through foster care, the state swiftly established orphanages where sometimes upwards of 30 children were brought up. In the mid 20th century, at the peak of the days of unbridled foster care, no less than one in 30 children at any given time resided in foster care - half of them in actual families, the other half in orphanages. Since then, the proportion of the total population has gone down somewhat, but these dreaded child institutions are still around, now referred to as HVB-hem - treatment homes
Posted on Friends of Domenic Johansson - October 28, 2010
A judge in Sweden's administrative court has ruled that social workers will continue to have custody of a boy who was seized by police from a jetliner as he and his parents were preparing to move to India, according to a new report.
The decision by Judge Peter Freudenthal was reported by the Home School Legal Defense Association, which along with international attorneys working with the Alliance Defense Fund already have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights for help reuniting the family.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - October 07, 2010
Government’s Claws Dig Deeper in Johansson Case
On September 21, 2010, Swedish Administrative Court Chief Judge Peter Freudenthal handed down his decision in the case of Domenic Johansson of Gotland, Sweden, dashing the hopes of his parents for reunification with their son, who has been kept in foster care for over one year. Dominic was seized by Swedish authorities from the plane he and his parents had boarded as they were moving to India, his mother’s home country. Authorities cited untreated cavities in the boy’s teeth, failure to vaccinate, and homeschooling as reasons for taking him into custody.
HSLDA, Press Release, hslda.org - October 6, 2010
State 'child-napping' escalates to international court. Parents have been fighting 1 year for custody of son
By Bob Unruh
The state-sponsored "child-napping" of a Swedish boy because his parents were homeschooling him is being escalated to the European Court of Human Rights, which is being asked to hear the case of Dominic Johansson.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - June 25, 2010
The struggle continues for little Domenic Johannson, seized by police from his agonized parents because he was briefly homeschooled, stayed home with his mother as a preschooler, and was reportedly too affectionate and outgoing. Close observers of the Johansson state-sponsored "kidnapping" case believe the Visby Social Board is pushing Swedish courts to fast-track a new series of court challenges in an effort to have the cases quashed long before Ruby Harrold-Claesson wins her way back as counsel to Domenic's parents, Annie and Christer Johansson.
Family Integrity, familyintegrity.org.nz -June 25, 2010
Socials fast-track new case in Ruby Harrold-Claesson’s absence. Family’s Lawyer Inexplicably Banned.
Friends of Domenic Blogspot
The struggle continues for little Domenic Johannson, seized by police from his agonized parents because he was briefly homeschooled, stayed home with his mother as a preschooler, and was reportedly too affectionate and outgoing. Close observers of the Johansson state-sponsored "kidnapping" case believe the Visby Social Board is pushing Swedish courts to fast-track a new series of court challenges in an effort to have the cases quashed long before Ruby Harrold-Claesson wins her way back as counsel to Domenic's parents, Annie and Christer Johansson.
Friends of Domenic Blogspot, friendsofdomenic.blogspot.com -June 25, 2010
A website supporting a Swedish family whose son was taken into custody by social-services agents almost exactly one year ago says the court case over the dispute now is being rushed before a human-rights activist can be restored to the case.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - June 24, 2010
A decision by officials in Sweden to remove a well-known human-rights lawyer from a child-custody case is being called a "stunning display of bureaucratic indifference and contempt of due-process rights."
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - June 18, 2010
State ‘Kidnapping’ of Swedish Home-schooler Prompts International Outcry
By Alex Newman
The case of eight-year-old Domenic Johansson, separated from his family by Swedish authorities last year over his parents’ decision to legally home school him, has prompted an international outcry from human rights groups, American home schooling organizations, and activists on the World Wide Web.
The New American, thenewamerican.com, 15 June, 2010
Judge banishes family's custody lawyer. Chief of Nordic Committee for Human Rights told she's off case
By Bob Unruh
An internationally known human-rights lawyer who had agreed to work on the case of a Swedish family whose son was taken into custody by agents of the government social-services program for being homeschooled says she has been banished from the case.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com -June 10, 2010
Social-service agents grab child from school. Hustled off in truck to prevent meeting human-rights lawyer
By Bob Unruh
Social-services agents in Sweden have swooped down on an elementary school to grab a 9-year-old boy and take him out of class so he would not meet an internationally known human-rights attorney working on the family's custody dispute with the state, according to the attorney and parents.
Government officials then cancelled a scheduled telephone conversation between the child, Domenic Johansson, and his parents, Christer and Annie, because of "what happened today at the school."
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - May 11, 2010
A top human rights expert who also is accomplished in Swedish law has been assigned to help a homeschool family whose 7-year-old son was taken into custody by police and has been detained by social services agents in Sweden for almost a year.
The startling assignment by Swedish courts of attorney Ruby Harrold-Claesson to the case of Christer and Annie Johansson came only days after WND reported on a campaign by the Home School Legal Defense Association for homeschoolers and others worldwide to contact Swedish authorities about the case.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com - April 30, 2010
Members of Sweden's parliament are being warned to drop plans to change their homeschooling laws or they soon could be on par with Germany, where persecution over homeschooling recently prompted a family to flee to the U.S. for asylum.
The warning comes from the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association, the premier homeschooling-advocacy organization in the world.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com, April 26, 2010
Parents plead for return of 7-year-old son. Dad, mom being allowed 1 hour visit every 5 weeks
By Bob Unruh
A plea has been sent worldwide for moms, dads, brothers, aunts and grandparents – in fact anyone – to contact Swedish authorities and ask them to return to his parents a 7-year-old boy taken into police custody over a dispute that includes the family's decision to homeschool.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com, April 19, 2010
Social workers have been visiting a Swedish couple whose son was "abducted" by government agents last year because he was being homeschooled, but that's not necessarily a good sign, and now two major rights organizations are exploring options to reunite the family.
The Home School Legal Defense Association and members of the Alliance Defense Fund have been advising Christer and Annie Johansson on the "state-napping" of their son, Dominic, 7, from an airliner as the family was preparing to move to India last year.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com, February 27, 2010
Swedish Govt slammed for seizing home ed boy
Christian home-schooling parents who had their son taken away by Swedish Government officials have lost their court case to have him returned.
Dominic Johansson, who is just seven years old, was taken away from his parents in 2008 [2009] and a court has now ruled that the Government was within its rights to do so.
Critics have called Dominic’s removal a “disgraceful” abuse of power.
Christer and Annie Johansson had boarded a plane with their son to India, Mrs Johansson’s home country, when officials seized Dominic.
The Christian Institute, christian.org.uk - 8 Jan 2010
Swedish family persecuted for homeschooling
By Ian Slatter
Purcellville, VA—Christer and Annie Johansson, a Christian homeschooling family, are in the unimaginable position of permanently losing custody of their only child, 7-year-old Dominic Johansson, simply because they homeschool.
HSLDA Press Release, hslda.org - December 22, 2009
Court Upholds State-Sponsored “Kidnapping” of Homeschooled Boy
As most people count their blessings and prepare to enjoy Christmas with family, many others face serious struggles. Among these is the Swedish family of Annie and Christer Johansson whose only child, 7-year-old Dominic Johansson, was “kidnapped” by Swedish authorities in June of this year as the family was on a plane leaving the country for a new life and home in India. Annie Johansson is from India where her entire family lives.
HOME SCHOOLING / INTERNATIONAL, 22 December 2009
Home schooled boy snatched from plane in Sweden. Help reunite this persecuted family!
By Don Hank
Home Education Foundation, hef.org - October 2009
Holes in their heads
Maria Andersson's blogg
The outright kidnapping of Domenic, the little boy the newspaper (Världen idag) The World Today has written about here, shows an ugly picture of the legal security afforded Swedish citizens.
Världen idag, varldenidag.se - 2009-09-28
What happened next with boy snatched from plane in Sweden?
Mats Tunehags Blog
The 7 year old Domenic were taken from his parents in late June because they wanted to home school him. Dominic is still not reunited with his family; his mother Annie is critically ill (trauma) and his father Christer is going through sleepless nights fighting for justice for his family.
Världen idag, varldenidag.se - 2009-09-22
Sweden - the Next Germany for Homeschoolers?
Home School Legal Defense Association has sent a formal letter of inquiry to the head of a local Swedish social services unit as well as several other Swedish and American government officials inquiring about the case of Annie and Christer Johansson of Gottland, Sweden.
HSLDA Press Release, hslda.org - September 16, 2009
Police 'nab' 7-year-old homeschooler. Officials took child from plane as it was about to take off
By Bob Unruh
A mother and father are going public with details about how Swedish social-services officials had police halt a plane en route to takeoff in order to take custody of their 7-year-old son after they had argued with local school officials about his homeschooling.
"I'm no better than other people. I'm just a normal human being, trying my best to do what I feel is important both in my life and in this world. My family is maybe a little different from the norm, but, when did that become a crime," the father, Christer Johannson, has written on the Swedish website Vaken.
WorldNetDaily, wnd.com, September 09, 2009
Home schooled boy snatched from plane in Sweden
By Don Hank
Christer and Annie Johannson are a Swedish couple from Gotland that attempted last year to home school their son Dominic, a bright and happy 7 year old, just prior to their leaving the country to take up residence in India. They made all the right moves, informing the school of their plans.
LAIGLESFORUM - September 7th, 2009
Friends of Domenic Johansson Blog spot
Daniel Hammarberg's address: State of the Swedish Child Welfare
YouTube.com
The Madhouse: A Critical Look at Swedish Society
By Daniel Hammarberg
The Alexander Aminoff Case
By Sven Hessle
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