The China Mail - French champagne makers face prison in human trafficking trial

More than 50 mostly undocumented migrant harvesters lived in accommodation that harmed their "security, health and dignity", according to the prosecution.

A prosecutor at the Chalons-en-Champagne criminal court in eastern France late Thursday requested a four-year prison sentence, including at least two behind bars, for a director of the vine-growing servicing company Anavim on charges including human trafficking.

The director, a Kyrgyz woman in her forties, has also been accused of concealed labour, submitting vulnerable or dependent persons to undignified housing conditions, and employing foreign nationals without authorisation.

"We cannot accept any champagne bottle concealing unregulated subcontracting and blatant mistreatment," the prosecutor said.

Communicating with the help of a translator, the main defendant denied she was responsible for the housing conditions, and blamed two other defendants suspected of recruiting the harvesters hailing from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

The prosecutor requested a three-year sentence for those two men, including at least one year without parole.

Both Anavim, the company that provided the housing to the 57 seasonal workers, and a wine cooperative that traded with it were also tried as responsible parties in court.

The prosecutor requested that Anavim be dissolved and the cooperative fined 200,000 euros ($230,500).

French law defines human trafficking as "recruiting, transporting, transferring, housing or receiving a person to exploit them," by means of coerced employment, abusing a position of authority, abusing a vulnerable situation or in exchange of payment or benefits.

- 'Like slaves' -

Camara Sikou, one of the labourers, said in court that the workers had been treated "like slaves".

Another worker, Modibo Sidibe, told AFP: "They put us in an abandoned building with no food, no water, nothing. And then they took us to harvest the grapes from 5:00 am to 6:00 pm."

After a neighbour alerted the French police, investigators in September 2023 inspected the living conditions of the harvesters, according to prosecutor Annick Browne.

The accommodation, a warehouse and a house under construction in the village of Nesle-le-Repons, contained "worn and dirty sanitation facilities", an outdoor kitchen and living areas that were unprotected from the weather, and bedding strewn on the floor.

The accommodation also failed to respect electrical "security measures", the prosecutor said.

Following the inspection, regional authorities ordered the closure of the accommodation, citing "unsanitary" and "undignified" living conditions.

According to a report conducted by the labour inspectorate, the accommodation was in a state of "dilapidation", and the toilets and shared living spaces were "disgusting" due to lack of cleaning.

Maxime Cessieux, the lawyer of the victims, said before the trial that the defendants had shown "total contempt" and disrespect for "human dignity".

- 120,000 seasonal workers -

Every year, around 120,000 seasonal workers are brought in the Champagne region to handpick grapes grown across 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) and used to make its iconic bubbly.

The famed winemaking region's reputation took a hit in 2023 when four grape harvesters died, possibly the result of sunstroke after working in scorching heat.

David Desgranges, vice president of the Committee Against Modern Slavery, said the public should "be made aware of the extent of human trafficking in the agricultural sector", and producers "should know that they may face legal procedures".

The court is to issue a verdict on July 21.

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