Mother wins custody of her children following legal battle in the Maltese Courts

by di-ve news

American father had brought them to Malta 15 months ago

Dateline: 7th March, 2002
Time: 1300 CET

Monique Grecula, the 32-year-old French mother residing at Pennsylvania in the United States who lost contact with her two children after their 65-year-old American father, Ronald Alen Grecula, abducted them and came to Malta, won her legal battle in Malta against her husband.

The Civil Court, presided by Mr. Justice Raymond Pace, on Wednesday granted custody of the two children to their mother and authorised their return to the United States.

It also upheld the order given by the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County in the United States on November 6, 2001, which granted full custody rights to Monique Grecula.

Last week, Monique Grecula filed an urgent case against her estranged husband, Ronald Alen Grecula, calling on the Civil Court to grant her the custody of her two children, 10-year-old Berenger and 3-year-old Emile Gigi.

Monique Grecula told the Court that her husband fled from the United States on November 26, 2000, and came to live in Malta without telling anything to his former wife.

She said that she began searching for her missing children, and after some time, she located them in Malta.

For this reason, the mother said, she began legal proceedings in the Maltese Courts to get back her children.

She also explained that although she and her husband were effectively separated, they were still legally married.

In its decision, the Civil Court said that “in the supreme interest of the minors”, it upheld the mother’s request to take the children back to the United States.

The Court also described the father’s actions when he abducted his children and did his best to influence them against their mother as “highly damaging” to them.

Dr. Aron Mifsud Bonnici and legal procurator Sharon Mizzi assisted Monique Grecula, while Dr. Joseph Pace assisted Ronald Alen Grecula.