Filenews 26 November 2022
The Court of Appeal upheld the eight-year prison sentence imposed on a 52-year-old Greek man by the Limassol Assize Court in a case involving trafficking in persons and money laundering.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the Assize Court that trafficking in persons is a heinous form of violation of fundamental human rights, which undermines human dignity. As he notes in the judgment, "it has unfortunately reached international proportions and is considered one of the most serious offences committed in the context of organised crime. And this is no coincidence.
Securing huge profits channelled to international organised crime networks is undoubtedly the driving force behind the emergence and rapid spread of this phenomenon, which is, of course, fostered by the search for sexual services. In offences of this kind, the perpetrators essentially exploit the vulnerability of the victim whether it concerns his financial impoverishment, his low educational or mental level and in general his despair and lack of any prospect of finding a decent job", the decision added.
According to the facts of the case, the 31-year-old complainant from Bulgaria came with the defendant to Cyprus and worked as a prostitute, in order to pay off a debt of €5,000 that she had to loan sharks in Greece for the expenses of her cancer-stricken mother. It was held that the defendant became aware of the vulnerability of the complainant and used her need for money to his advantage in order to exploit her. So, he offered to help her come and work in Cyprus as a prostitute. In order to entice her to this end and in order to convince her that she would earn a lot of money without any problems, he offered to travel with her to Cyprus himself – since the complainant had never visited Cyprus before and knew no one – in order to arrange her accommodation and explain to her how "the work is done", since, as he assured her, he had good relations in Cyprus and knew "how to get her to work as a prostitute". Under these circumstances, taking advantage of the need of the complainant, he persuaded her to come to Cyprus and pay him €200 a week from the practice of prostitution.
The 31-year-old worked as a prostitute from the beginning of July 2020 until 23 November 2020, when she was interrupted by the intervention of the Police. According to the ruling, when the complainant did not pay the 52-year-old the sum of €200 a week on time, he humiliated her by yelling, cursing her in a vulgar manner, spitting on her and belittling her, telling her that she is "nothing" without him. The same thing happened when the complainant complained about the money she was giving him, because he lived with her and did not have her freedom, or because she did not want to work until too late at night.
All these findings led the Court of Appeal to seal the judgment of the Assize Court, rejecting both grounds of appeal that the girl came to Cyprus of her own volition and that the sentence was increased.
