Important Update: "Begging for Justice"

20 December 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It has been a momentous week for the Goldman case and it isn’t not over yet. The story of David and Sean has been all over the news this week, since David won a unanimous decision at the Federal Regional Appeals Court in Rio de Janeiro which upheld the return order from June and directed that Sean be turned over to David within 48 hours. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in with a statement praising the decision, only to have this order suspended by yet another legal maneuver by the Lins e Silva and Ribeiro families, who submitted a writ of habeas corpus to the Supreme Court. That motion was accepted by the reporting judge on the case, Marco Aurélio de Mello, who stayed the return order the next day. This is the same judge, by the way, who single-handedly blocked the return back in June with another stay order.

The media has been closely the story, some doing a better job than others at detailing and explaining the facts, but all have made the fundamental connection that a father is being deprived of raising or even communicating with his son by a wealthy, politically connected family, with the assistance of one Supreme Court Justice. Everyone, Americans and especially Brazilians, know that this is an incredible injustice which cannot be left to stand.

It appears that public opinion in Brazil may have shifted with this week’s events, as many Brazilians are reacting negatively to the continued defiance of the rule of law by the families holding Sean, their attorneys, and one Supreme Court Justice who continues to thwart the lower court decisions which unanimously argue that Sean needs to go home immediately. Seth Kugel, a Brazilian based journalist for GlobalPost recently quoted an anonymous Brazilian following the case: “It’s impressive how the Lins e Silva family achieved an almost unheard of feat in this country: it united the great majority of the Brazilian population in favor of an American! Who would have thought?”

We are trying to maintain a "timeline summary" of events on the BringSeanHome.org Home page for those who cannot participate in our Forums. However we would like to direct your attention to a blog titled Adventures of a Gringa which is published by one of our earliest and hardest working supporters in Brazil and now in NYC, Rachel, also known as "Rio Gringa." We strongly urge you to read her story line of 12/18 titled House of Cards. She summarizes ALL the events of the week along with her candid reactions which are the same as thousands of other supporters. As you will read some real bombshells occurred both here in the U.S. and Brazil as result of the suspension of the return order by Justice Aurélio de Mello.

On Friday, as a direct result of the stay order, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) put a "hold" on a bill now in the Senate, which grants several countries, including Brazil, the right to import products into the United States without paying import duties. Brazil alone received about $2.75 billion in benefits last year.

The Brazilian Attorney General stepped in on Friday and filed a writ of mandamus against the Supreme Court justice who blocked Sean's return. There is some hope that perhaps his stay order will be overturned soon. David's legal team has also filed a motion to reverse the stay order and we hope that the President of the Brazilian Supreme Court will take up both writs this week, quash the habeas corpus stay order and send Sean home once and for all.

It is vital that justice prevails and Sean is returned to his father, because there are nearly 70 abducted American children being held in Brazil and over 2,800 abducted American children around the world in similar situations No one has made a better presentation of the continuous failure of our federal government's effort to help America's abducted children than former Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, Bernard Aronson. His presentation on December 2nd before the Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives literally "brought the house down." Read it online here (Adobe PDF format).

Thank you for your continued support and our best wishes for a Happy and Healthy Holiday season. We ask that you keep David and Sean Goldman in your thoughts and prayers at this special time of the year. Let us pray for a Christmas miracle that finally brings David and Sean together again permanently.

Mark DeAngelis - Bob D'Amico - Christine Schmitt - Melissa Capestro - Jim Mastriani - Matt DeAngelis
The Bring Sean Home Foundation

PS: Begging for Justice? Watch the video of David speaking to reporters outside his Rio hotel, where you will hear a father’s passionate plea to bring his son home. The video is on the BringSeanHome.org Home page.

ABC News Nightline: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9378879

TIME Magazine: The Sean Goldman Controversy: Memories of Elián González

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response.