The Larnaca-Famagusta Criminal Court handed a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence to a couple of farmers after finding them guilty of trafficking seven people for labour exploitation.
The pair, aged 49 and 54, who own a farm in the Famagusta district, was found guilty of 15 counts of trafficking in persons for the purpose of labour exploitation, conspiracy and withholding personal documents.
The victims were seven Egyptian workers who reported that the working and living conditions in the premises provided by the defendants were deplorable.
In particular, they said that there were no toilets or laundry facilities in the place where they had been staying. In addition, they complained that their employers withheld their travel documents, did not pay them their agreed salaries and forced them to work overtime illegally.
The violations took place between 2017 and 2020.
(File photo)