Schlesinger Twins: Jewish leaders at Austrian embassy for Beth custody battle

Jewish News     December 10, 2013

British Jewish leaders have spoken of a “serious miscarriage of justice” after meeting Austrian diplomats to discuss a legal ruling that forbid a London mother of custody of her two young sons.

A senior delegation told HE Dr Emil Brix of their “extreme concerns” about a recent decision of Vienna court’s ruling on the custody dispute between Beth Alexander, who comes from Manchester, and her ex-husband Michael Schlesinger, who is Austrian.

Board of Deputies vice-president Jonathan Arkush said: ”Having studied the court’s judgment carefully, I am extremely concerned about its lack of reasoning to support the unusual decision to deprive a mother of the custody, or even shared custody, of her two very young children. I fear that a serious miscarriage of justice has occurred.”

Schlesinger won full custody of Beth’s two twin boys, aged 4, and a series of appeals have failed, with the most recent judge upholding the decision of a lower court to limit her access rights to 3 visits every 2 weeks.