Saint-Émilion: Moroccan workers exploited, their recruiters convicted

The court found them guilty of having exploited four Moroccan compatriots in unworthy conditions. Aged 28 and 59, they were sentenced respectively to six months and one year of actual imprisonment, sentences that can be arranged by the wearing of an electronic bracelet, reports France Bleu. "For his lesser involvement," the son was given a lighter sentence. Maître Jean Trebesses, lawyer for several civil parties, welcomed this decision: "The court has sanctioned this system of exploitation, with unscrupulous employers who brought these Moroccan agricultural workers. They housed them in absolutely unworthy and indecent living conditions, to make them work in wine estates without any compensation."

The victims, recruited in Morocco with the promise of paid employment, housing and a residence permit, ultimately received no salary and lived in unsanitary housing. "They were treated like objects," the prosecutor had denounced during the hearing. The court ordered the two men to pay approximately 19,000 euros in damages to each of the victims.

Their company, La Petite Charentaise, fined 50,000 euros, will no longer be able to provide labor to agricultural operations. At the end of their sentence, the father and son will be banned from French territory for 10 and 5 years respectively. Contacted by France Bleu Gironde, they indicated, through their lawyer, that they reserved the right to appeal.