A Polish woman and two Ukrainians were accused of human trafficking and forcing five Colombian citizens to work as slaves in a meat factory in Radom. The prosecutor's office sent the indictment to the local court, said the acting prosecutor of the Radom region Cesari Oltarzhevsky.
The suspects are a Polish citizen, an employee of an employment agency in Radom, who dealt with the recruitment of workers, and two Ukrainian citizens, who coordinated and supervised the work of Colombians in the Radom factory.
Prosecutor Cesari Oltarjewski, the acting prosecutor of Radom district, emphasized that human trafficking, which the suspects are accused of, has different forms; in this case, it was about recruitment and forced labor.
Violence in the workplace
Colombian citizens were subjected to physical and verbal violence at work, they were forced to perform their duties despite their health condition, their passports were confiscated, money was taken, they were not allowed to leave their residence freely.
The suspects did not confess their guilt and gave a statement. According to them, the foreigners knew the conditions of their work and voluntarily agreed to it, and no violence was committed against them. A preventive measure was applied to three suspects in the form of police surveillance and a ban on leaving Poland. Possible crimes are punishable by 3 to 20 years of imprisonment.
They feared for their safety
In February 2023, Colombia was inspected by officers of the Nadwislansky border guard unit in Radom. Foreigners were allowed to work in our country, but they did not have the right to stay in Poland.
Colombians arrived in Poland via Spain. As they explained to the investigators, they decided to come to our country because they were afraid of their safety in Colombia, which was taken over by drug cartels. At the same time, it was revealed what kind of conditions they live in the Radom plant.
A Polish woman, who speaks Spanish well and was an employee of the Radom employment agency, helped them find a job. The woman was looking for people who wanted to work in Poland through Internet forums. He offered them an offer and conditions of work and housing, but here it was completely different. The prosecutor's office also determined that Karina V. received PLN 1,000 from three injured persons in Colombia. He was supposed to give them permanent residence cards, but he couldn't do it.
“Exploited their weakness”
According to investigators, Colombians in Poland faced a difficult situation. “Their negligence was exploited because they were in a foreign country, did not know the Polish language and had problems communicating with the people who were supervising their work,” the prosecutor said.
When they arrived in Poland, they lost their passports for several months. They used threats, harsh words, forced people to work regardless of their current state of health. One of the foreign nationals injured his leg while working when another worker who was supervising him threw a box full of meat on his leg. A Colombian woman had pregnancy-related complications and still had to report to work. Workers only have a 15-minute break during the day when they can leave the production line. They received an average of 1.5 thousand pounds for their work. PLN per month. They were also restricted from leaving the dormitory where they were staying.
Among the people suspected by the investigators of crimes related to human trafficking, there is another citizen of Ukraine; Now the investigators are determining his whereabouts.
The indictment was sent to the Radom district court.
Main image source: Adobe Stock
