At the Brest judicial court, the human trafficking case in the hot seat – Brest

This Thursday, May 25, at the Brest court hearing, a 38-year-old woman presented herself against her sentence to one year in prison, six of which were suspended. For his part, the 63-year-old man based his presence against the two years of imprisonment pronounced against him. These presumed perpetrators intend to challenge their previously admitted guilt.

Behind them, on the benches of the civil parties, line up thirteen complainants out of sixteen (two absences and one suicide). Heads down, these migrants, including eight Ivorians, four Mauritians and a Congolese, listen to the reminder of their condition as “modern slaves” which sometimes extends well before the dates of the prevention.

The bait of a regularization of an irregular situation

With the meticulousness of a watchmaker, President Xavier Jublin explains that the offenses are discovered in this poultry collection company in Saint-Sauveur during three checks carried out from July 6, 2020. These foreigners in an irregular situation on French territory have thus accepted an often unworthy job in return for a never-honoured promise of an administrative regularization of their cases. Working from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. the next day, they had to fill up to twelve trucks with crates of poultry. For the sake of profitability, each vehicle was loaded first in one hour, then in forty-five minutes and finally in thirty-five to the sound of the mantra that one of them was forced to repeat: “action, action…”. No rest, no paid holidays… breaches of the Labor Code to which were added indecent accommodation conditions in rooms rented by the employer. In this way, the monthly sum of €137.50 was directly deducted from each income. Two people per space of 10 m, the investment was profitable. For some, the task was extended by private services in the homes of employers.

“A residence permit for a migrant is a lifetime! “.

At the helm, the sixty-year-old, head of the company now hit by an administrative closure, invokes to justify himself “the refusal of the French to work in this painful sector”. And if the magistrate asks him: “Have you therefore become less demanding on recruitment? “, he answers:” We can say that clearly! “. But the one who is described by the civil parties as “a boss all the time drunk, insulting to the point of being violent” struggles, however, to explain the many offenses attributed to him. As for the thirty-year-old, now his wife, she feels the same embarrassment to contradict the complicity that the file retains against her. Of Ivorian nationality, the former employee of this company, was yesterday in charge of recruiting the workforce. During the debates, she continually raises her eyes to the ceiling and gazes at those of her compatriots who say: “A residence permit for a migrant is a lifetime! “. The discussion drags on with many pleadings.

The prosecutor, Solenn Briand, requested four years in prison with a warrant of committal against the manager of the Prestavic company and two years, one of which was suspended against his spouse.

The court will deliver its judgment on July 6 at 1:30 p.m.