Rome/Strasbourg - The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday in favour of Italy's judiciary's decision to grant former porn-star and Italian parliamentarian Ilona Staller custody of her son with US artist Jeff Koons. "I am happy for this decision even if it comes after more than 14 years of battles in the courts," Staller, who during her porn career used the name La Cicciolina (The Cuddly One), told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Speaking by phone from Buenos Aires, where she was participating in a television dance reality show, the 56-year-old Staller said her son Ludwig also welcomed the decision.
"Ludwig is turning 16 later this month and has only had sporadic contact with his father over the last three years," she told dpa.
"He has always made it clear he wants to live with me," she said.
Koons had sought recourse to the Strasbourg-based Court of Human Rights against Italy's decision allowing Ludwig to live with his mother in Rome, which Koons said prevented his son from visiting him at his home in the United States.
Koons had also complained against the Italian judiciary's decision, first taken in the 1990s to award custody to Staller.
But on Tuesday the Court of Human Rights noted that Italian authorities had made a "thorough assessment of the family situation and the interests of all concerned, especially those of Ludwig in order to find the solution most likely to provide him with a stable home environment.
"Italian judicial authorities had made every effort to protect the higher interests of the child, while always recognizing the applicant's (Koons) right of contact, in a difficult situation marked by constant disagreement between the parties and their inability to put their son's well-being first," the court said.
The decision to rule in Italy's favour was made by five votes to two.
Hungarian-born Staller attracted international media attention in 1987 when she successfully stood for parliament in Italy's elections, often baring her breasts at political rallies.
In 1990 she married Koons, celebrated for his kitsch sculptures and other works including starkly sexual images of Staller.
The couple separated in 1992, the year Ludwig was born, and divorced six years later.
