GENERAL PROSECUTOR PROVIDES BACKGROUND DETAILS ON

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000425

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

FOR EUR/NCE AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN LO
SUBJECT: GENERAL PROSECUTOR PROVIDES BACKGROUND DETAILS ON
TRAFFICKING CASES

REF: BRATISLAVA 360

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: General Prosecutor of the Slovak
Republic Dobroslav Trnka provided post with nearly four pages
of further background information detailing the Slovak
Republic's prosecution of human traffickers. While the
information includes a different number of prosecuted
individuals than Post and Washington have previously
reported, this is likely due to the fact that this
information reports prosecution statistics by individuals
(rather than by the number of cases). Trnka's report also
provides additional information about cases already reported
in the press, and also discusses the General Prosecutor's
legal framework for pursuing sentencing. Finally, the letter
outlines several cases currently being pursued around
Slovakia. END SUMMARY.

SLOVAKIA PROVIDES NUMBERS...
--------------


2. (SBU) Slovak General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka
responded to a letter from the Charge requesting additional
information and statistics on TIP-related prosecutions and
convictions, as requested by G/TIP for the annual Trafficking
in Persons report. Trnka wrote that his office continues to
investigate, arraign, and charge individuals with trafficking
violations, and cited the following numbers for 2004:

-- 34 arrests
-- 14 charges
-- 8 convictions

Post notes that these numbers do not track individual cases;
it is possible that an individual charged in 2002, for
example, was not convicted until 2004. (Note: Trnka's
response gave different statistics than those provided to
G/TIP by the Slovak Embassy in Washington, a discrepancy
possibly explained by the use of "individuals" rather than
"cases" as the denominator.)

...SOME NARRATIVE...
--------------


3. (SBU) In addition to the statistics provided, Trnka's
letter reasserts that, as the law provides, all those
convicted of trafficking in persons received "unconditional
sentences of imprisonment from three to six years." Trnka's
office also elaborated details on TIP cases gathered from the
prosecutions, including the office's previously reported
impression that most victims are economically disadvantaged
women aged 18 to 25 years who are enticed to work abroad with
promises of good pay, only then to be trafficked through
Slovakia to the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, France,
Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands, where they are forced
into prostitution. He described the incidence of trafficking
in Slovakia as "sporadic" yet "increasing," and acknowledged
that the statistics are only indicative of a broader
trafficking problem.

...AND ELABORATES ON SUCCESS STORIES SEEN IN PRESS
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Trnka provided anecdotal details on several cases
during the past years, telling the stories behind the numbers
previously reported to G/TIP. One recent case the General
Prosecutor draws attention to is being pursued by the
District Prosecution Office in Galanta, in which a group of
12 perpetrators had operated a trade in women to Germany,
Switzerland, and France. There were 31 identified victims of
this trafficking ring, which was recently broken up by the
Slovak Police in cooperation with Interpol and the German
authorities. The prosecutor reports strong evidence against
the group, including videotape, evidence seized in home
searches, surveillance, and forensic accounting.


5. (SBU) In another case currently under prosecution by the
Special Prosecutor's Office (which deals with high-level
corruption and organized crime),a group of 9 men (8 Slovak
and one Slovenian) are accused of recruiting and transporting
54 Slovak women from Slovakia through Hungary and Austria to
Slovenia, where they were forced to work as prostitutes. A
third case cited by the Gneral Prosecutor involves two men
who recruited young women from Lucenec to "work abroad," and
then transported them to Bratislava. Once in the capital,
they were turned over to a woman who transported them to
Italy, where they were forced into prostitution. These three
perpetrators were found guilty, and received unconditional
sentences varying from three to six years.



6. (SBU) In yet another example, he wrote about the case of
a small group of women who was selling poor Slovak women into
prostitution in Italy (the perpetrators were successfully
convicted). In another case, six women from Slovakia were
tricked by a group of four men into taking a "trip to
Prague," during which they were sold into prostitution (the
four men are currently being prosecuted). A final case
involved a group of 9 women who were taken from Slovakia to
the Czech Republic and Germany, where their possessions were
seized, they were locked in an apartment, and they were
threatened with violence if they did not agree to work as
prostitutes.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (SBU) Trnka's letter is further evidence of the
increasingly strong emphasis the Slovak Government has been
giving to TIP issues in the past months (reftel). It also
represents the first time that the Office of the General
Prosecutor (an independent entity, separate from the Ministry
of Justice and one of post's primary interlocutors on
trafficking) has compiled and provided detailed information
to Post. The General Prosecutor's office has always
cooperated on providing information on a case-by-case basis,
contacting each district prosecutor for updates for the
annual TIP report. We have thanked Trnka for his response,
and asked him to provide this information to the Embassy on
an annual basis for use in our drafting of the annual TIP
report.


THAYER


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