A man aged 30 from Balti municipality got 11 years for trafficking in human beings and imposition of prostitution. His accomplice - a 28-year-old woman from Falesti – was sentenced to seven years in jail. The two recruited six Moldovan girls and forced them to prostitute themselves in Moscow, Russia, IPN reports.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), the two recruited and transported the six girls to Moscow in 2010 – 2011. They promised them salaries of US$800 a month for working as waitresses in Russia’s capital. The victims were from socially deprived families.
One of the victims was 17 and was three months pregnant when she was forced to prostitute herself. She did it for half a year, serving by 10 clients a night. The other victims were aged between 28 and 30 and were from northern Moldova. The girls were paid by US$100 by each client. They gave a part of the money to the traffickers. The two were arrested in February 2011, when they wanted to transport to Russia another two girls from Balti.
The Balti Prosecutor’s Office considered the punishment was too mild and appealed the decision to a higher court, asking for 15 and 10 years behind bars for the two.
The statistics of the PGO show that 109 cases of trafficking in persons were recorded in the first six months of this year, as against 85 similar offenses in the corresponding period last year. Of the 67 persons convicted, 18 were jailed, mainly for trafficking in human beings, 28 were put on probation, principally for procuring, while 25 were fined. The prosecutors challenged 12 sentences against 22 persons.
