Finnish man faces serious charges in human trafficking case in Latvian court
If convicted, accused can be sentenced to 15 years in prison
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Charges related to human trafficking were brought against a Finnish man in a Latvian court on Monday. The trial, which is being held behind closed doors, is expected to last for about three weeks. Not even Finnish consular officials or police authorities have been allowed to follow the proceedings.
The defendant, who was born in 1959, is from the Northern Ostrobothnia region of Western Finland, and faces two separate charges.
According to the first indictment the accused has taken part in organising human trafficking abroad. Some of the alleged victims were underage.
According to the second indictment, the man has arranged travel abroad for people wanting to work in the sex industry.
What makes both charges serious is the that the activities allegedly took place as part of an organised crime ring.
Charges were also brought against the Finnish man's three Latvian associates.
The most aggravating circumstance is the fact that at least one of the alleged victims was a girl who was just 17 when the activities took place. Under Latvian law, the punishment for such crimes is eight to fifteen years imprisonment.
The Finn has already spent over a year in pretrial detention.
This is the first incident in which a Finnish citizen faces such serious charges related to human trafficking.
Recently, a Swedish man was sentenced to eight years in prison in Latvia for similar procurement crimes, but his case did not involve underage individuals.
The National Bureau of Investigation, together with the Finnish Frontier Guard had investigated the Finn's undertakings a couple of years ago.
On conclusion of the investigation the accused was suspected of having arranged dozens of women from Latvia, Estonia, and Russia to work as prostitutes in several of the larger cities in Finland. The man was considered the ringleader of the operation.
Estimates suggest that the women had a few thousand male clients, using newspaper advertisements, the Internet, and a call centre in Tallinn to make the contacts.
A unique feature in this case was the camera surveillance that utilised the GSM network to transmit video images from the women's rooms to the call centre.
Presumably the idea was to ensure that the women would not be able to work without their superiors’ knowledge.
The man also faces charges of pimping in the Finnish city of Oulu.
This legal action, however, is on hold until the Latvian court has pronounced its verdict in the ongoing case.
Helsingin Sanomat
