A hotel owner and a general manager who trafficked five young women from Morocco, including two girls aged 17, have lost their appeal at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.
In December last year, the Bahraini investor and Egyptian hotel manager were sentenced to three years in prison, fined BD2,000 each and ordered to pay for the repatriation of the victims.
Court documents state that the two men duped the women by offering them jobs as waitresses and baristas in the Hoora hotel, only to force them to dance for long hours in the property’s nightclub.
They were also made to sit with customers, drink alcohol with them and perform acts described by the Public Prosecution as ‘inappropriate’.
The High Criminal Court convicted the men of human trafficking, forcing the women to work by holding them captive against their will and taking away their passports.
Verdict documents revealed that the 58-year-old owner “exploited his position, as the person responsible for the hotel, and misused his authority over the employees” to direct the 34-year-old manager to recruit and trick the victims.
“Customers were sometimes allowed to behave towards the victims in ways that bordered on sexual assault, without the women’s agreement or consent,” read the ruling.
“Investigations show that the two appellants made security guards watch the victims at all times to prevent them from leaving or communicating with anyone or go out.”
The GDN earlier reported that a 21-year-old victim had managed to escape the hotel with the help of one of the other women and reported her ordeal to the police.
She stated that she came to Bahrain after a Moroccan recruiter promised her a job with a BD400 salary in Bahrain, but was met with a terrible shock after arriving and being trapped by the Egyptian appellant.
Shortly after arriving in Bahrain, the women were driven to a hotel in Manama where they were held in ‘abhorrent conditions’ against their will and were made to work for long hours without time off.
They were denied their freedom and forced to do jobs contrary to what had been agreed upon and when they resisted, were insulted and threatened with violence.
After being freed, the women were moved to a shelter run by the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons.
Commercial registration (CR) records show that the Bahraini businessman appellant bought the hotel in Hoora in 1999 from a prominent Bahraini merchant family, who had opened the business in 1990.
The GDN reported that 22 human trafficking cases were dealt with by authorities from January 2024 until January this year, resulting in the arrest of 50 individuals.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science said at the time it had additionally assisted 41 victims during the above period.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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