United States pensioner in French crane protest to see granddaughter
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A 70 year-old US grandmother climbed to the top of a crane in Privas, central eastern France on Saturday, March 9, 2013, to protest against being prevented from seeing her granddaughter, whose father is accused of sexually assaulting the girl. The banner reads "Rose, 2 years without her grandmother". -- PHOTO: AFP
PRIVAS, France (AFP) - A United States grandmother climbed to the top of a crane in France on Saturday to protest against being prevented from seeing her granddaughter, whose father is accused of sexually assaulting the girl.
The stunt was the latest in a series of separated parents scaling cranes across France to complain about lack of access to their children.
April Reiss, 70, said a French court had ordered the girl's Belgian mother to let her see her during a two-week period but that she was refusing to comply.
"My daughter-in-law is taking Rose away from me and the court isn't listening to me, so now I hope they will listen," she told AFP by phone, adding that her husband was very sick and wanted to see the girl before he died.
