The judges ruled that Nigerian-born Peter S. was in charge of a criminal organisation that trafficked young girls from Nigeria to the Netherlands. Whilst the girls were awaiting their asylum status in the Netherlands, thinking they would get a job and a better future, members of the organisation forced the girls to disappear from the asylum centres and brought them to Italy and Spain, where they had to work as prostitutes.

 

Warner ten Kate, public prosecutor in the Netherlands for human trafficking and people smuggling, is satisfied with the verdict. “For the first time, people actually got convicted for human trafficking. In a previous, similar court case [the so-called Koolvis case, ed.], suspects were only charged with people smuggling, which is considered a far lesser crime. This has been the first major case in which the Netherlands and Nigeria cooperated. This, and the severity of the sentences, sets a hopeful precedent for future cases against human trafficking.”

 

It took almost five years to reach a verdict in this case, code name ‘Kluivingsbos’. The girls were very reluctant to testify and press charges. While still in Nigeria, they had been taken to a voodoo priest, who performed certain rituals on them. The girls believed bad things would happen to them or their family if ever they spoke out or refused to pay back their debts to their traffickers.  

 

With the help of a former prostitute and Nigerian priest, the Public Prosecution Service managed to get ten girls to testify in the end. The defense, however, objected that the victims were put under extraordinary pressure and that their testimonies were heavily influenced and therefore not reliable. This further delayed the case. After a verbatim translation of the interrogation tapes, the judges ruled there was no reason to question the reliability of the testimonies.

 

With the evidence deemed reliable, the charges proven and the verdict spoken, the only thing missing in this case were the suspects and their lawyers. Press judge Sandra Schreuder wasn’t surprised by the empty court room. “The suspects all fled the Netherlands when their preliminary arrest ended. Normally people stay in custody until the case is brought to court. In this particular case it was very difficult and time consuming to gather enough evidence. When somebody is kept in custody for a very long time and you’re not sure they’ll ever be punished, you have to release them.”

 

Although Schreuder hopes some of the convicted will be intercepted at one point,  it seems doubtful that this will ever happen. “Although human trafficking is one of the most severe crimes you can commit and the sentences reflect that, the reading of the verdict, in the absence of the convicted, was more a legal formality,” she admits.

Anthony B from Sierra Leone, who was convicted to four years in prison, is ‘very disappointed’ by the court’s ruling, says his lawyer Wenzel Tuma. “I briefly spoke with my client. It’s very likely we will appeal against the verdict. My client was convicted for human smuggling in a previous case and served his time in prison. They brought forward the very same facts in this trial, so I don’t understand the motivation of the judges.”

 

“My client was released after seven months of preliminary arrest because the judges in this case didn’t expect the sentence would be any higher than that,” Mr Tuma continues. “He was classified as an undesirable alien and had to leave the Netherlands. Now the same judges sentenced him to four years in prison, which is simply bizarre. As to whether my client will ever appear before a Dutch court again, well, given that it isn’t possible for him to build a future in the Netherlands, it’s only logical he tries to build up a life in a different country. Nonetheless, we’re very hopeful the higher court will rule differently.”