A Brazilian woman has accused her Portuguese ex-husband of taking their son to Portugal on a “clandestine” flight using “false documents”.
The case was reported on Sunday. Ana Beatriz Sampaio, a public servant from Teresina, Brazil, separated from her husband, identified as José Sampaio, in 2023. Since then, the ex-couple has been battling in court for the custody of their son, both in Brazil and Portugal.
After more than two years of legal battles, Ana received a message in July that the child had traveled to Portugal without her consent while on vacation with his father.
The Brazilian authorities were immediately notified, as she believes the child was abducted by the father.
The report states that the child boarded a flight in Piauí with his father, paternal grandmother, and others on an aircraft not authorized to operate as an “air taxi”, departing from a private airfield in Altos.
The group then flew to Paragominas, Pará, and onward to Oiapoque, Amapá, on another aircraft.
False documents were allegedly used to board, as the child’s Brazilian and Portuguese passports were retained by judicial order.
Two days after leaving Brazil, according to the investigation team, the boy was reported to be with his father in Viana do Castelo.
The Portuguese man declined to comment, but his lawyers in Brazil claimed the mother had at one point kidnapped the child, an accusation Ana denies, stating she has always adhered to judicial rulings.
Since the child has been in Portugal, the mother has faced challenges in contacting him, only managing a supervised visit five months after the incident.
The custody battle continues in both countries. The Brazilian Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region ruled that the child’s habitual residence is in Portugal, where the custody proceedings should continue. Ana’s legal team plans to appeal this decision.
In Portugal, temporary unilateral custody was reportedly granted to the father. While legal proceedings continue, the case highlights “failures in oversight and places a child at the center of an international dispute”.
