Three people were jailed on Monday for human trafficking after subjecting migrants from Africa to long working days and then housing them in appalling conditions during the 2023 grape harvest in the Champagne region of north-eastern France.
The main defendant, the director of a wine services company from Kyrgyzstan, was also charged with concealed work, employing foreigners without authorisation and with non-existent or insufficient remuneration.
The court in Châlons-en-Champagne sentenced her to four years, two of which were suspended with a committal order. The presiding judge ordered the dissolution of her wine services company and fined a wine cooperative, which was also being prosecuted, 75,000 euros.
During the trial, the woman denied being responsible for the grape pickers' accommodation. She said two other men were responsible.
One man was sentenced to one year in prison and the other received a two-year jail term, one of which was suspended.
'Squalid living conditions'
The court was told that workers hailed from Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire and were hired in Paris and then transported to the Marne region.
An investigation revealed working days lasting from 5am to 6pm and a return to squalid living conditions.
The grape pickers, the court heard, stayed in a house undergoing renovation and a shed, sleeping on inflatable mattresses on the floor, with makeshift showers, unusable toilets and numerous electrical faults.
In September 2023, an inspection of the accommodation provided for grape pickers in the town of Nesle-le-Repons found living conditions that they said seriously undermined the safety, health and dignity of the inhabitants
Police authorities blocked up the house after highlighting makeshift bedding, the disgusting state of the toilets, washrooms and communal areas as well as dangerous electrical installations.
'Treated like slaves'
Camara Sikou, one of the grape pickers, told the court: "We were treated like slaves."
Every year, around 120,000 seasonal workers are brought in to pick grapes across the Champagne region’s 34,000 hectares of vineyards.
In 2023, the industry came under scrutiny after four harvesters died, reportedly from heatstroke during extreme temperatures.
For the first time, the Comité Champagne – representing 16,200 growers and 370 champagne houses – joined proceedings as a civil party.
In a statement released just before the start of the trial, its director, Charles Goemaere, said the organisation was firmly opposed to such unacceptable practices.
(With newswires)
