Vika Maroz Future to Become Topic of Open Debate in Italy :: Charter'97 :: News

Italian human rights association “Children’s Friends” has invited the citizens of the country to the first open debate dedicated to the topic “Maria and children of discord”. The discussion would concern the conflict between the approach of the state and human approach to the problem of orphans, and particularly about the future of 11-year-old Vika Maroz (Moroz), Radio Svaboda informs. Vika Maroz, a former pupil of Vilejka boarding school, which is better known in Italy as Maria.

Since an Italian couple from Cogoleto, Alessandro Giusto and Maria Chiara Bornacin, refused to give the girl back to Vilejka school, many Italians are concerned by the girl’s fate. Italian Senate has even created a special commission on investigation of this case.

The debate is scheduled for February 21 in the building of Milan bank BPM. The reason for the debate is investigation of the case of Vika Maroz carried out by the Belarusian Prosecutor’s office and forwarded to Genoa court for the underage. As the materials of the investigation show, the Italian press reports, the couple from Cogoleto had compelled the girl to tell untruths. In reality, no violence has ever been used against Vika Maroz, and she had been treated well in the boarding school. The girl allegedly told so to Belarusian psychologists who cooperated with the investigation.

The Belarusian prosecutor’s office does not comment the investigation and the fact of giving its materials to Italian justice.

Meanwhile representatives of public associations of Italy have made several critical statements on this occasion.

According to the president of Civil Mobilization Association, Marco Marcese, it is important to check the legal character of all evidence. Marco Marcese is convinced that the aim of all actions was to discredit Alessandro Giusto and Maria Chiara Bornacin. This couple tried to substitute Vika’s parents, and their mistake was to hide the girl. Marcese calls upon “starting a nation-wide mobilization to defend such people as Alessandro Giusto and Maria Chiara Bornacin”.

According to the last statement of the association “Children’s Friends”, before Christmas Belarusian authorities banned Belarusian orphans to go to Italian families. It looks like Belarusian people wouldn’t come to Italy again, now for Easter holidays. The Italian community cannot stay indifferent to that, “Children’s Friends” believe. The association calls upon Genoa court for the underage to act primarily to the benefit of orphans.

Before the New Year in a telephone talk with an Italian journalist Vika Maroz answered where and with whom she would like to live:

“It’s Italy. I have always saying that I want to live here. My brother Sasha has a family. I want to go to Italy, to my mother,” the girl said.