Accused by six Moroccan compatriots, a father and his son appear Tuesday before the Libourne criminal court.
A Moroccan father and son, accused by six compatriots of having accommodated them in unworthy conditions and exploited them without remuneration, appeared Tuesday before the Libourne criminal court for human trafficking in Bordeaux wine estates. The victims, all recruited in Morocco, have similar stories. Ahmed or el Mehdi Genna, the two defendants, promised them a long-term residence permit, a stable job paid at 1,500 euros per month and accommodation. In return, the young men paid them a sum of around 12,000 euros to come.
“I accepted because I dreamed of a better life in France”testified one of them, who was a mechanic in Morocco, on Tuesday morning on the stand, explaining that he had drawn on his savings but also those of his sister and his mother. Arrived in France in June 2022, “I didn’t know where I was going to live or where I was going to work”he continues in Moroccan dialect. The first to file a complaint, in September 2022, he describes the cramped accommodation where eight people were crammed together, with dirty mattresses on the floor, showers with cold water. But above all a frantic pace of work in the vineyards, with 15 minutes of lunch break and no remuneration for 18 days worked. Another victim tries to contain his anger at what he describes as “vast scam”. “I had confidence in Mehdi, whom I had known since my childhood. I had no reason to doubt him.”he explains.
The accused defend themselves
Facing them, Ahmed Genna brushes aside the accusations of unworthy accommodation, confirmed by the Labor Inspectorate according to the president of the court. “The accommodation was clean, they purposely made everything dirty and then they took photos and videos”launches the one who also appears as legal representative of a company serving as an interface with the wine estates. “Nothing is true, they are lying, no one gave me money to come to France.”
“They couldn’t cope with the workload in the vineyard, they were incapable, they didn’t even work a single day, I didn’t have to pay them”asserts the defendant, in turn accusing the victims: they would have filed a complaint against him to obtain a residence permit. The trial continues in the afternoon with pleadings and requisitions.
