France jails 3 in champagne slave case

A FRENCH court this week jailed three people for human trafficking in the champagne industry, exploiting seasonal workers and housing them in appalling conditions.

- 

The Champagne region is under tough scrutiny, with another inquiry looking into the use of Ukrainians during the same 2023 harvest, which was marked by exceptional heat and the death of four grape pickers.

A lawyer for the victims - more than 50 mostly undocumented migrant workers from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal - said the court had made a “historic” decision.

The victims, who said they had been treated “like slaves”, also praised the ruling.

“The people were working in really bad conditions, and this decision is fair,’ said Amadou Diallo, a 39-year-old from Senegal.

The court sentenced the director of a servicing company called Anavim, a Kyrgyz woman in her forties, to two years behind bars, and another two years suspended.