The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced an Australian pub owner to 19 years in prison and four foreign and Thai accomplices to 16 years each for sex-trafficking four Moroccan women.
The defendants were convicted of human trafficking and procuring prostitutes which was in contravention of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Prevention Act, the Suppression of Prostitution Act and the the Criminal Code.
They are Michael Pearl, 46, an Australian national; Ghassan Wakej, 37, from Syria; Chairat Narajan, 63; Chayakorn Iamasa, 46; and Hana Taoyuree, a 38-year-old Moroccan woman.
They stood accused of conning four Moroccan women into the flesh trade in Thailand during a period stretching from Oct 11, 2016-Mar 26, 2017. All five had denied the charges.
According to two of the victims, Taoyuree lured all four to Thailand from Morocco in 2011 with the promise of jobs working as waitresses at Dream Disco, a pub owned by Pearl on the fourth floor of the Zenith Sukhumvit Hotel on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok's Klong Toey district.
Taoyuree had also promised the victims they would be highly paid.
The victims said they entered Thailand via the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge and boarded an inter-provincial bus bound for Bangkok.
Once in Bangkok the four were detained by Pearl's associates -- Wakej, Chairat and Chayakorn -- and forced to work as prostitutes at the pub.
They said they were beaten if they refused to provide sexual services.
Taoyuree, meanwhile, collected a commission payment from Pearl and Wakej for procuring the women.
After being rescued from the pub in March 2017, two of the four victims returned to their home country.
According to investigators, the statements given by the victims matched the findings from the investigation summary compiled by the Crime Suppression Division.
The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security also assisted in the investigation.
After Wednesday's verdict, the four men were transferred to the Bangkok Remand Prison and Taoyuree to the Central Women Correctional Institution.
- Earlier report: Long jail terms for traffickers
