Thomas Sørensen, 40, is back in Denmark after escaping Austria with his five-year-old son Oliver.

Sørensen removed his young son, over whom he has parental custody in Denmark, on Tuesday as the boy’s mother was about to hand him in to a kindergarten in Graz. Austrian police issued an international arrest order for Sørensen on Tuesday.

“He arrived home during the night and we are now waiting to hear from the Family Board and the Ministry of Justice that Thomas Sørensen will not be extradited to Austria,” says Janus Bang, Sørensen’s spokesman.

The Danish authorities awarded Thomas Sørensen parental custody of his son in 2010 after the boy’s mother had moved back to Austria with the couple’s son. The mother then opened a custody case in Austria, which she won.

“We feel we have the law on our side. If the mother disagrees then she should file a case here in Denmark,” Bang says, adding Sørensen has now gone into hiding.

“The danger is that the authorities react too quickly and begin talking about extradition. We have no faith in the Danish authorities and the way in which they have handled the case up to now,” Bang says.

He says he hopes that the authorities quickly study the case and accept that Sørensen has both custody and residence rights to his son and will not be extradited.

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