GERMAN FAMILY COURT JAILS FATHER FOR A PHOTOGRAPH

Fathercare Knowledge Centre Europe, Hamburg/Germany, Sunday 12th December 2004:
The well-known German Actor Mathieu Carriere today started a ten-day prison sentence after refusing to pay a fine for having a picture of himself and his daughter in newspapers as part of an article that criticised the German Custody system.

Mathieu Carriere joins the ever-rising number of fathers who are willing to do whatever it takes to end the silence towards the father-cut-off policies operated by Secret Family Courts.

Carriere had been photographed with his eight-year old daughter, for whom his former life companion has sole custody. The pictures appeared in several newspapers. The mother had not agreed the publication of the father and child photograph, and she complaint to the courts and sued the actor. The Hamburg regional courts heard the mother's complaint and sentenced the father to 5000 euro.

Carriere decided to refuse to pay the fine and instead announced publicly that he would be going to prison in support of the campaign for equal rights for both parents following divorce or separation.

When he arrived outside the prison gate, he was joined by hundreds of noisy and placket waving fathers and supporters outside the prison as part of the ongoing protests about the scandalous German divorce courts.

When speaking to the demonstrators, the 54 year old father declared that his imprisonment was a symbol for the crisis in the family law system and highlights the need for reform towards equal rights for fathers after parental separation. "We will continue to fight for our children with peaceful means", said Carrière

Germany already has more than four million children who have experienced parental separation. Within one year after separation, 50 per cent of children continue to lose all contact with their other parent, mostly their father.

The charismatic actor has been cast in more than hundred movie and television productions, yet still found time to enrol in the Sorbonne and in Vincennes to study philosophy.

After his first lead role in Volker Schloendorffs' "Der young Toerless", he became a household name not only in his native Germany, but throughout Europe. His international reputation was enhanced when he was cast in the 2002American movie "High Speed" (direction: Jeff Jensen) and for his performance as Cardinal Jakob Cajetan in the 2003 movie "LUTHER" (Director: Eric Till).

Other films: "Die Spaziergängerin von Sans-Souci" (Director: Jacques Rouffio, 1981), "L'amour en douce" (directed by Edouard Molinaro, 1985) "Christopher Columbus" (Director: John Glen, 1992) 2002 "High Speed" (Director: Jeff Jensen), "Hans Christian Andersen" (Director: Philippe Saville) and "Joyrider" (Director: James Mathes).