Mother fleeing with her two sons to get them out of their hands …

Juana Rivas lived with her Italian partner Francesco Arcuri on the Italian island of Sardinia. Arcuri hit Rivas several times. The woman decided in May 2016 to leave her partner. With her children, she returned to Spain where she filed a complaint against Arcuri for domestic violence.

Arcuri had already been sentenced in 2009 for domestic violence against Juana Rivas. But he denied the new charges. Meanwhile, a Spanish court ruled that Arcuri had custody of their two sons and that Rivas had to "give" their two children to Arcuri.

Instead, Rivas disappeared with his two sons for a month. These facts date from last summer. Finally, Rivas decided to transfer his two sons and to report to the police.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit was filed against Rivas because she had been hiding with her children, even though the judge had confided custody to Arcuri

"Acted as a mother "

Rivas told the Granada court that she" acted like a mother who wanted to prevent her children from returning to a place where she was abused ".

"I lived in hell in Sardinia," she said. . "Francesco m closed for hours, hit me, spat in my face, pulled my hair, …" Rivas says, his children (who have now 4 and 12 years old) also gave up. "And certainly the elder has witnessed a lot of abuse."

Court recognized that Arcuri had already been recognized guilty of domestic violence. But the court also pointed out that the couple later decided to try again, that Rivas had moved to Italy and that the couple had received a second child. According to the court, there was no evidence of abuse after the domestic violence incident in 2009 that Arcuri had been found guilty. A psychologist also examined the eldest son and found no evidence of traumatic experiences that may be related to domestic violence.

"The facts we see are that Rivas decided in the summer of 2016 to divorce her husband, and that she realized while child care would be a big stumbling block. . " Judges According to the court, Rivas decided to exploit the argument of domestic violence in order to get custody, after which she kidnapped the children.

# JuanaEstáMiCasa

Rivas was sentenced to 5 years in prison. She also loses custody of her children for at least 6 years, and must also pay a fine of 30,000 euros, to pay court costs and as compensation for Arcuri.

The case has received a lot of attention in Spain because it draws attention to domestic violence in Spain and the attitude of the country towards the victims of it. On social media, there are a lot of indignant reactions to the verdict. On Twitter, the hashtag # JuanaEstáMiCasa ( "Juana is in my house" ) was launched to express his support for the woman.

The Rivas lawyer has since indicated that he would appeal. He added that the decision is extremely unfair and that it is a major failure of the Spanish and Italian legal system.