A father and son have been arrested for human trafficking in Ninotsminda, a town in the southern Georgia region of Samtskhe-Javakheti which borders Armenia.
The border police of Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and General Prosecutor’s Office of Samtskhe-Javakheti region say the detained father and son trafficked and subjected to forced labor three Armenian citizens.
In 2015-2016, the suspects invited three Armenian citizens to Georgia on promises of good working conditions, helped them compile the necessary paperwork and transported them in their own car.
Upon arriving in Georgia, the three victims were taken to a cattle farm, had their IDs confiscated and were forced into unpaid labor for the next few years. Their movement was restricted and the suspects allegedly monitored them around the clock, both in person and through surveillance cameras inside and outside the house where the victims were kept.
The incident came to the attention of the police when one of the captives managed to escape and attempted to cross the border to Armenia.
Human trafficking is punishable by 12-15 years in prison under the Criminal Code of Georgia.