Page 7 of 30 kilometers from the applicants’ home. By decision of 28 June 1983, prompted by conflicts between the natural and the foster parents, the Council moved Stefan to a children’s home, Viggen, at Vänersborg, which was run by the Board for the Retarded and situated about 80 kilometers to the north of Gothenburg. (b) Helena and Thomas 18. Helena and Thomas were placed in separate foster homes - Helena with the Larsson family at Näsåker, in the vicinity of the town of Hudiksvall, on 21 October 1980 and Thomas with the Bäckius family at Maråker, south of Söderhamn, on 10 November 1980. These localities, which lie to the northeast of Gothenburg, are about 100 kilometers from each other. The distances by road from Hudiksvall and Söderhamn to Gothenburg are 637 and 590 kilometers, respectively (see M·KAK, Bilatlas, Sverige, 1981). 19. The Government stated that the original intention had been to place Helena and Thomas with separate families in the same village, but that this had proved impossible at the last minute. They added that the Larsson and Bäckius families were in continuous contact, gave each other much support and met, together with Helena and Thomas, approximately every six weeks. 20. Thomas’ foster parents and their own children are members of the Church of Sweden and attended church with him - regularly, according to the applicants, or two or three times a year, according to the foster parents. 2. Restrictions on the applicants’ access to the children 21. Since the children were taken into care, their parents’ access to them has been the subject of various decisions, including the following. (a) Stefan 22. Stefan spent some three to four weeks with his parents in the summer of 1982. However, on 10 August 1982 the Council decided, pursuant to section 16(1) of the 1980 Act (see paragraph 48 below), to limit their access to him to one visit every six weeks. They appealed to the County Administrative Court, but on 17 November 1982 it confirmed the restrictions (see paragraph 28 below). 23. After 22 April 1984, Mr. and Mrs. Olsson were allowed to see Stefan every week, mostly at their home. He spent some weeks with them in the summer of 1986. (b) Helena and Thomas 24. On 21 October 1980, the Council decided to ban access by the applicants to Helena and Thomas at their foster homes, in accordance with section 41 of the 1960 Act (see paragraph 48 below), and to prohibit disclosure of their whereabouts. However, the applicants were allowed to meet the children elsewhere, every second month. The decision was designed to protect the children’s chances of settling down and was prompted by the fact that Stefan had previously been removed from his home and hidden by his parents (see paragraph 17 above). The foregoing restriction was lifted in September 1981, but in February 1983 the Council decided, having regard to the attitude of confrontation adopted by the applicants towards the foster parents, to confine the former’s contacts with Helena and Thomas to one visit at the foster homes every third month. This new restriction was confirmed by the County Administrative Court, on appeal, on 25 March 1983 and again by the Council in decisions of 2 August 1983, 6 December 1983 and 30 October 1984. On 3 October 1985, the County Administrative Court dismissed an appeal by the applicants against the last-mentioned decision; they withdrew their appeal on this point in subsequent proceedings before the Administrative Court of Appeal (see paragraph 31 below) and the restriction therefore continued in force for the remainder of the period during which these children were in public care. 25. According to Mr. and Mrs. Olsson, Helena and Thomas were permitted to visit the family home only once - in 1982 - whilst they were in care, for a few hours and under the strict supervision of the http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/viewhbkm.asp?sessionId=60525252&skin=hudoc-en&a... 10/13/2010