Europe’s highest court has declined to hear a case brought by a Christian couple whose two daughters were seized by Swedish authorities in 2022 over claims of abuse and religious extremism allegations, leaving the children in state custody.
Zeale News previously reported that Daniel and Bianca Samson have been attempting to regain custody of their young children, Sara and Tiana, for several years. According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, the legal nonprofit representing the Samsons, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that their case was “inadmissible” because the family did not pursue all legal remedies available to them in Sweden. However, ADF International said in a press release that “there were no further options for domestic recourse.”
ADF International continued that the court “indicated that it did not consider there to be an apparent violation of the right to respect for private life under the European Convention on Human Rights.”
The court said that the Samsons could possibly go before national courts to pursue their case under religious freedom claims. ADF International is working with the Samsons to determine next steps.
In the release, Guillermo A. Morales Sancho, legal counsel for ADF International, stated, “Parents have the primary responsibility and right to raise their children.”
“When the state interferes with family life based on values-based parenting choices or discrimination on the basis of faith, fundamental freedoms are at stake,” he added.
As Zeale News previously reported, the two girls were taken from the Samsons after Sara claimed at school that her parents were abusing her. According to ADF International, she quickly took back her claim, which had been prompted by her parents’ refusal to let her have a cell phone or wear makeup.
An investigation into the Samsons was closed once no evidence of abuse was found. During the investigation, the Samsons allowed their daughters to be placed in foster care. However, Swedish authorities later refused to return the girls and called the parents “religious extremists" because they attend church multiple times a week and do not allow their young daughters to wear makeup.
The Samsons took their case to the ECtHR last year after the Swedish Supreme Court refused to hear their case.