Judge confirms jail term in prostitution case

The Court of Criminal Appeal has confirmed the jail term handed down to two men and a woman found guilty of trafficking in Ukrainian women for prostitution purposes but cleared them of trafficking in minors.

The Magistrates' Court had jailed Carmelo Gravina and Paul Ellul for three years and Mr Ellul's Ukrainian wife, Elena, was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years because she was a first-time offender.

The court heard that the case was brought to the attention of police when Massimo Grima, the boyfriend of Ukrainian Yevgeniya Khonakhbeyeva, filed a report in a desperate attempt to save her from the situation she was in.

The court also heard Ms Khonakhbeyeva explain that she and Mrs Ellul used to be friends back in the Ukraine. Mrs Ellul had asked her to come to Malta to help her with work but did not specify what the work entailed.

Mrs Ellul provided her and a friend with all the necessary documents to travel to Malta where she was introduced to prostitution.

Ms Khonakhbeyeva explained she saw between two and 12 clients daily and the standard fee was Lm15 for half an hour. She kept Lm5 for herself and gave the rest to either the Elluls or to Mr Gravina.

Mr Justice David Scicluna, presiding over the appeal court, cleared all three of trafficking in minors and trafficking in the women for the purpose of producing goods or providing services.

The judge, however, confirmed the part of the judgment in which they were found guilty of trafficking in the women for prostitution purposes - a crime which carried a jail term that ranged between two and nine years. For this reason the judge did not alter the jail punishments handed down..