Ilya Karpyuk: Maxim Kuzmin's case

Ilya Karpyuk Maxim Kuzmin Photo: Facebook/Alan Shatto

The Texas Children's Protection Service officially confirmed that she received a report on the violent death of the three -year -old Maxim Kuzmin, who, after adoption, received the name Max Alan Shatto. Speech, according to the representative of the department, is about cruelty to children.

In addition to the service of children's protection, the police officer is investigated by the child’s death. So far no one has been arrested, and the spouses themselves Alan and Laura Shatto refuse to comment. Employees of the Russian Consulate General in Houston are aware of the situation.

Alan and Laura Shatto. Photo: Alan Shatto/Facebook

The Commissioner of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Human Rights, Democracy and the Supreme of Law, Konstantin Dolgov, said that Maxim Kuzmin died on January 21 as a result of the brutal appeal of the adoptive mother of Laura Shatto. Doctors found numerous injuries of the head and legs in the child, as well as damage to the abdominal cavity and internal organs, which could be caused by a strong blow. In addition, the Russian authorities have information that the child was regularly given the drug “Risperdal”, which is usually used to treat schizophrenia in adults.

Maxim Kuzmin. Photo: Alan Shatto/Facebook

Maxim got into the United States from the Pechora child of the child in the Pskov region. The head physician of the institution Natalya Vishnevskaya said that the child suffered from heart defect, but he did not have mental illness. Maxim left Russia more recently - the court decision on adoption was made in October 2012. At the same time, the spouses of Shatto was adopted by Kirill Kuzmin, Maxim's brother. The Russian "Children's Ombudsman" Pavel Astakhov said that the Texas authorities removed Laura from his upbringing, but they allow him to see.

Alan Shatto and Maxim Kuzmin. Photo: Alan Shatto/Facebook

If the guilt of Laura Shatto is proven, and it also turns out that the father is also involved in the death of the child and will be deprived of parental rights, Kirill Kuzmin can be transferred to education in another family, but also American, said Pavel Astakhov. Russia, according to the Commissioner for Children's Rights, has the right to demand the return of Kirill Kuzminov to their homeland, but the legislation of the United States is unlikely to achieve this.

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on the fact of death in the United States of a Russian citizen. Investigators requested information and materials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The SK will petition for the absentee arrest of the adoptive mother, as well as to seek the participation of Russian investigators in the investigation, which is held in Texas.

The Texas prosecutor’s office, according to Pavel Astakhov, is in contact with Russian services and is ready to assist them. The situation is different with the federal authorities. However, according to the distribution of powers between the center and the regions in the United States, Texas is not even obliged to notify Washington of the death of the child, so the capabilities of the federal government in this case are extremely limited.

Earlier it was known about the death of 19 children who were adopted in Russia in the United States. As a rule, all attempts by Russian investigators to take part in the investigation of the death of children did not end. The unwillingness of the US Ministry of Justice to meet the Russian investigative authorities was named one of the reasons for the adoption of the "Law of Dima Yakovlev", which forbade to give for adoption to the United States of Russian children.

Andrey Turchak

Many representatives of the Russian authorities decided, without waiting for the end of the investigation, draw conclusions for themselves and declare them to the press. The Governor of the Pskov Region Andrei Turchak went further - he suspended all the adoption procedures in the region. “We suspend all the advanced procedures for the adoption of all children in any families,” the press service of the head of the region of his words reports.

The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia Vyacheslav Lebedev contacted his American colleague John Roberts and invited him to discuss cooperation on the issues of adopted Russian children by citizens of the United States. “I invited him to visit Russia and sign an agreement or intention to cooperate,” Lebedev told reporters.

Michael McFol

US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFol called the death of a child in his microblog a tragedy. “I don’t know the details yet, but the death of this child is a terrible tragedy,” he wrote on Twitter.

Russia forbade the Americans to adopt children after the Act of Magnitsky’s adoption by the US Congress. The United States prohibited those involved in the death of a lawyer to visit the country, have property there and carry out banking operations. The authors of the Russian law tried to convince the public that it is not accepted in response to the actions of American legislators, but because since 1996, 19 adopted children were killed in the United States. The American authorities, meanwhile, did not seek to allow Russian law enforcement officers to investigate.

See also: SK opened a case on the fact of the death of a Russian child in the United States, the State Department was delayed by the help of investigating the death of the adopted Maxim Kuzmin Pavel Astakhov reported the murder of a foster child from Russia in the United States