Court Jails Three for Five Years for Human Trafficking Mary Nammour

13 March 2010 DUBAI - Two Uzbeks and an Iranian were each sentenced to five-year imprisonment for human trafficking on Thursday. The Court of First Instance also ordered the deportation of the trio after serving their prison terms.

Earlier when presiding Judge Hamad Abdel Latif Abdel Jawad read out the charges of human trafficking, one of the Uzbeks said he did not even know the women involved.

The Uzbeks, along with an Iranian business partner, forced two Uzbek sisters into prostitution by threat and beating. All defendants pleaded not guilty.

Three other suspects are still being sought by the authorities.

The men were caught on February 16 last year trying to sell the women to an undercover police officer.

Court records show that the two Uzbek sisters were brought to the UAE by two compatriot women on an assurance that they would work in a restaurant. However, they were picked up from the airport on December 29, 2008 and directly taken to an apartment where the Iranian defendant forced them into prostitution.

mary@khaleejtimes.com