A once bubbling love affair between a French husband, Azais Stephane Alexandre,40, and his Vietnamese wife,Thanh Huyen,30, has turned sour, after Stephane took the daughter away from the hospital,3-5 months after Huyen gave to their daughter, Sarah via a caesarean section.
In a video uploaded by a film director, Louis Corallo, the short time film documents the mother who is currently struggling to see her daughter, but have been barricaded by a tall gate, where it is assumed that Stephane and the baby are currently residing, all efforts made by the woman to enter the gate have been denied.
Stephane with baby Sarah
A reporter from a popular Vietnamese new agency, Tuoi Tre, tried calling the building to ask if she could speak to Stephane about the issue, but she was also told that Stephane was not available immediately it was revealed that she was asking about the child case.
What Happened Between Azais Stephane Alexandre And Thanh Huyen
According to Huyen, she had given birth to Sarah with a C-section,and after 3.5 months with the baby, Stephane took the baby with her photocopied passport, the birth document, and without the consent of the mother, the French consulate nationalised Sarah, making her a French citizen, and also means that she could travel with her father without immigration stopping them at the border.
Stephane with wife, Huyen, when the going was great
When the baby was taken away, Stephane makes it difficult for Huyen to meet her baby, so Huyen travelled to France and start legal proceedings to get back Sarah.
In 2015, Huyen could be seen playing with Sarah, but her visitation was allowed with lawyers, and also a French police officer.
So to take control of their child, Huyen took the case to a French court, where Stephane had told the court that Huyen is a bad mother, and is not able to keep the child, providing different documents, and since this document did not hold in the court as evidence, the court asks that Stephane returns the baby to her mother, and confirm she is not a bad mother as Stephane and his lawyer presented to the court.
French Court: All Talk No Action, As Stephane Disobeyed Court Order
Stephane lost the custody of the child in the French court, and while he was told to return the baby to the mother, Stephane seems to throw the court decision away. He fired his previous lawyer, as he blamed him for losing the case, and hired a new lawyer that can help him win the case.
In the meantime, Stephane travelled to Vietnam, and rented a place where he also run a company called the Intrixapple company, he then sent a notification to Huyen, his lawyer, and also the court that he is in Vietnam with Sarah, and this should mean he would be releasing the baby to the mother, but instead, the gate has remain closed, and nobody can verify if Stephane or the baby is really in the building.
The staff member from the building have been told not to talk to the press or Huyen about the case.
Stephane
In the video, two men were seen entering the apartment, and Huyen tried entering with them, she was kicked out at once, and the gate closed.
Also, another staff in the video had come outside of the company to drink coffee,when she was approached about the case, also said that she is not in the position to talk, and any effort to film her without permission will land the film director and Huyen in court.
She was asked again, as Huyen plead with her, instead she took a new cup of coffee, and threw it in Huyen's face, and started shooting a video of her, and the crew.
Legal Status: Hague Convention
Stephane seems to have done the proper homework on the whole legal proceedings, and while we wait for his side of the story going forward, a French lawyer for Huyen also said his piece on the current custody battle between Stephane and Huyen.
Benjamin Herisset, said that the case of child abduction would have been easy and done according to the Hague convention of 1982. Hague convention helps with the illegal mechanism of court Jurisdiction to solve the problem of child abduction.
While France is a member state of the Hague convention, Vietnam is not a member state of the convention, which means though the French court might have ruled in support of the mother, the Vietnamese might not have jurisdiction yet, as the child is still French.
At the moment, Benjamin confirmed that the court have known about Stephane denial of the baby to Huyen, and he will be arrested anytime he goes back to France.
When Benjamin as a lawyer also called the Intrixapple company that doubles as Stephane apartment and company, to confirm if the baby and the father are actually in Vietnam, or he had just sent false notifications, he was also not given a Yes or No question.
The Genesis
When Huyen was asked about what Stephane would say about her, she said he would only say that she is a bad mother, without evidence, she said that is the only thing he had been saying, and also told the French court.
She also said that their little quarrel had started before the baby delivery, Stephane had said that he would like their baby to have a French citizenship only, something that Huyen disagreed totally with him, and this might have just been where their fight started.
Huyen smiling with baby Sarah
Huyen also said that Stephane had also accused him of planning to murder him by hiring some assailants, and paying them 17,000,000Vnd ($748) to kill him.
Huyen denied these allegations by saying she does not have such money to dole out to kill the father of her daughter.
Support Or Against, Where Do You Stand?
At the moment, it is difficult to get hold of Stephane after he came back to Vietnam, as his staff won't give lawyers or reporters' access to him, and also not clear if he is with the baby while he claims he is in Vietnam, or just he is just here, while Sarah is in France. Nobody knows the answer to that, not even the neighbours.
At the moment, Huyen has garnered support from different Vietnamese netizens as she continues to upload videos, and post status of the case to social media, hoping that it will reach the eyes or ears of people that will reach out to help her with the case.
In the video, a lawyer also called Huyen, and offered to help her with the case, and she had promised to call him back to arrange a meeting.
Huyen mother told her to move on, marry a new man to start a new life, but she said she won't be moving on, she would like to be able to live with her baby again.
Other Vietnamese like Dinh had said Huyen is only after the baby because of what she stand to earn from child support, and she would have moved on if the father is just a non-entity, or poor.
What Now?
At the moment, Huyen is waiting for the French court document to be notarized in Vietnam, so that the law of getting the child to her mother can be enforced here in Vietnam, but she has no idea when this can be done or how soon.
Watch the short film here