Parents can have son if they go to get him

Press, 30 May 1983, Page 8

Parents can have son if they go to get him

NZPA-Reuter Chicago The parents of a Ukrainian boy who refused to return with them to the Soviet Union three years ago have won a court victory which may do them no good. The Hlinois Supreme Court has ruled that a lower court erred in 1980 when it declared Walter Polovchak a minor in need of supervision, making him a ward of the stae. Friday’s decision held that family discord was not sufficient grounds to deprive Anna and Michael Polovchak of their son, Walter, now 15. The ruling restored custody to the parents, but only if they returned to the United States. Walter’s lawyers said that they doubted the parents would return. In 1980 Walter ran away from home while his family was preparing to return, to the . Ukraine after jbix'

months in the United States. He said that he preferred the freedom he found in the United States. A second lawsuit is pending in a federal court, where the .parents have

challenged the United States Government’s decision to grant Walter and an older sister political asylum. The manoeuvering could continue until Walter turned 18 and became legally free to make his own decisions. The American Civil Liberties Union, which entered the case on behalf of the parents, said that it was pleased the Court had affirmed basic principles of law which are guaranteed to everyone in the United States, including aliens. But Julian Kulas, one of the boy’s lawyers, said: “Walter is not going back any place.” A second lawyer, Henry Holzer said: “If the Polovchaks live in Illinois for the rest of their lives, I’m pretty sure Walter would Want to live with them. He only ran away because they were going to take him back to the Aviet Union.”