Slave Trades

HETQ Online has some good, punchy stories at the moment, well all the time really. The latest is a piece on the sentencing of 'Mother Pimp', who was convicted of trafficking in young women.

According to the charges against her, "Between 1999 and 2003, Armenuhi Simonyan-Sahratyan, a resident of Vanadzor in the Lori Marz, recruited women in various parts of Armenia with the sponsorship of procurer Amalia Mnatsakanyan (nicknamed Nano) and sent them to the United Arab Emirates for sexual exploitation."

While the defendant and co-defendant deny being in the wrong, the victims paint a terrible picture of abuse: Witness Marine Vardanyan could not restrain her anger in the courtroom: "They took me to the Emirates, took away my passport, and forced me to do all kinds of things. I stayed there for twenty-one days and didn't earn a penny. Whatever money I made I had to give to Nano. But I couldn't stand it. I ended up in the police station and was sent back. I came to Armenia in a horrible condition. And now I am a third degree invalid."

Posted by Matt on October 07, 2004 | TrackBack | Email to a friend