A Winnipeg father whose children were taken away by child-protection services after he and his wife were accused of teaching them racist beliefs is preparing to fight to get them back.

In a sworn statement, the 27-year-old father claims Child and Family Services violated his fundamental rights. A week-long trial over custody of the children, pitting him against child welfare officials, is set to begin on May 25.

The man and his wife, neither of whom can be named because doing so could reveal the identities of their children, have been fighting the child welfare system since spring 2008 when officials accused them of raising their children as white supremacists.

The mother, who considers herself a white nationalist, sent her seven-year-old daughter to school with a swastika on her arm in March 2008. The teacher scrubbed it off, but the mother helped her daughter draw it on her arm again when she came home from school.

Child and Family Services case workers were alerted and went to the family's apartment, where they found neo-Nazi symbols and flags, and took custody of their two-year-old son. The daughter was picked up by family services at her school.

In court documents, social workers say they're worried the parents' conduct and associations might harm the emotional well-being of the children and put them at risk.

The high-profile custody case has received national attention and sparked a debate over whether children can be taken from their parents on the basis of suspected racism.

Through his lawyer, the father said the province has interfered with his right to raise his kids. The couple, who admit they attend white-pride rallies and meetings, are in the midst of divorce proceedings.

The child-protection trial will begin with the father arguing that his rights to freedom of expression and religion have been violated, his lawyer said.

Child and Family Services lost a motion this week to ban the media from reporting on the trial.