Ruby Harrold-Claesson, lawyer and chairperson of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights, says that in cases such as the Malaysian couple who has been detained in Sweden for allegedly abusing their son for not performing his prayers, the detainees can be held for an indeterminate period until the prosecution is satisfied.

“I have handled a case where a couple was held in remand for 11 months and their children were forced to stay in foster care for that whole duration” she says.

The Solna District Court in Sweden explains to Astro AWANI that the standard procedure for detainees under remand is to have a hearing every 14 days and a decision is made at the hearing whether to extend their remand or to charge them.

“In the case of Azizul Raheem Awaluddin and Shalwati Nurshal who are being held under remand, their next hearing will be on 30 January” says Solna District Court law clerk, Freda Fandberg.

The couple, who has been in a detention centre since mid December 2013, are being treated well by the authorities. This was made known to Astro AWANI by a close family member.

“It’s a first world country that actually upholds a very high standard of human rights. So even in detention, they are treated very well,” says the source.

The close family member also says that their four children are healthy and well taken care of under the Swedish foster care system, although they are pining for their parents and are wishing to come home to Malaysia and for the ordeal to be over soon.

However, Harrold-Claesson explains that there have been cases where children under foster care have been abused and neglected. It doesn't help that the foster care system in Sweden is open for exploitation.

“We have politicians in the social council, who themselves have taken on foster children. We have a founder of a foster home who has a specialised foster home, whose wife is a social worker and she took the children into care and placed them in the foster home that is run by her husband,” she says.

Harrold-Claesson also adds that there are numerous cases where the parents have been freed but lose the custody of their children.

“Right now I am working on a Muslim family who came to Sweden with a six year old daughter in January 2012. The girl was removed from the family and placed in a foster home. Her parents haven’t been allowed to see her till today,” she adds.

The close family member has expressed that the family’s hope is for the Swedish authorities to give some leeway regarding this case on humanitarian grounds.

“They are good people and a tight-knit family. They only have the good intentions of their children in mind,” added the source.

After several attempts by Astro AWANI of contacting the Swedish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the ambassador, H.E. Bengt G Carlsson, sent an e-mail response saying that they are not at liberty to discuss this case.

The e-mail also read:

“The Swedish legal system is independent and autonomous. The Government (including the Embassy) is neither able nor permitted to intervene in legal proceedings. Decisions in matters concerning children being taken into care are delegated to the local authorities and are under the supervision of the courts.”