Court issues verdicts in two human trafficking cases

Manama, July 4 (BNA): The Public Prosecutor and the Chief Prosecutor for Combating Human Trafficking announced that the Supreme Criminal Court today issued two judgments in two cases of human trafficking related to forced labor and sexual assault.

In the forced labor case, the court handed down five-year prison sentences and a fine of 5,000 Bahraini dinars to two suspects. While the third defendant was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 3,000 dinars.

With regard to the sexual exploitation case, two defendants were sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 2,000 dinars each. They will also be deported at the end of their prison term.

Court documents for the first case showed that the suspects forced a number of female victims to work, detained them in a building, and removed them from it only during the work period. They were also forced to work extra hours and not get paid. Whenever they refused, they were warned to pay heavy costs, which the defendants claimed were the costs of visiting and residing in Bahrain.

Regarding the second case, the two defendants misled a woman about their ability to provide her with a suitable job opportunity, and after her arrival in the Kingdom she was exploited and forced into prostitution.

The Public Prosecutor indicated that the Public Prosecution Office launched its investigation into the incidents as soon as it was informed of them, listened to the statements of the victims, and ordered them to be housed in the shelter of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking.

The Public Prosecution also listened to the statements of eyewitnesses, questioned the accused and ordered their detention. It also issued an arrest warrant for one of the fugitive suspects. The investigations of the Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate were also attached to the case documents, and referred the defendants to the Supreme Criminal Court, which convicted them and issued the aforementioned verdicts.

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