A 37 year-old man from Luqa was jailed for 11 years and had his farmhouse confiscated on conviction today in a case where a court heard how Russian women were brought to Malta under false pretences and forced to prostitute themselves while they were kept locked in the farmhouse.
According to one of the witnesses, the women also used to be 'sold off' and a policeman was involved in the transactions which the court said were a disgrace on the human race.
The case was taken to court after one of the women managed to phone her parents, who contacted the Russian police. Interpol and the Russian Embassy in Malta were also involved.
The court heard how the Malta police had been able to intercept two Russian women at the airport as they were about to be flown back to Russia.
The two women told the police that they came to Malta to work in restaurants but were forced to prostitute themselves in the farmhouse of the accused, Raymond Mifsud, in Luqa.
They said that as soon as they arrived in Malta in June 2004 that were taken to the farmhouse and immediately forced into prostitution with several men. When they objected, they were offered work as dancers in clubs, which they refused.
The two women said they were kept in the farmhouse and forced to prostitute themselves in order to be able to pay back their flight tickets and accommodation. When the accused was informed that they were refusing to work as prostitutes, he warned them them he would sell them to somebody else in order to settle their debts.
The women spoke how at one time they were bundled out of the back door of the farm during a search by the police. They were taken to a flat overnight, and then taken to the airport.
One of the women described how the accused had beaten her, grabbed a knife, handed it to a woman - Tatiana - who worked with him, and told her that she could kill her, if she wished. The witness said that before coming to Malta she worked as a sales assistant in a clothes shop and as a topless dancer in Switzerland, but she was never a prostitute.
Another witness, a Ukrainian woman who had no prior connection with the two women, said she came to Malta to participate in the Miss Bikini International Contest of 2004 and to work as a hostess for the contest. She said she tried to escape from the farmhouse but she was caught by the accused and locked in a room at the back of the farmhouse. The room was bare, without sanitary facilities and without lighting. She was kept there overnight and the following morning. She was given some bread and water.
On the following day, Tatiana asked her whether she was prepared to work as a prostitute. When she refused, she was locked up again. However on the next day the accused called for her and told her they had to leave because of problems with the police in Russia.
She was taken to the flat along with the other two women. But while the other two were then taken to the airport, she was kept in the flat and later taken to a yacht for the contest. When the other contestants were taken back to their hotel, she was taken to a security room in the hotel. The police found her there.
Tatiana Alkina testified that she had been previously convicted for profiting from prostitution and running a brothel. She said she had lived with the accused for a while and when she returned to Russia, the accused asked her to send him some women to work at Steam Bar in Paceville. When she returned to Malta she brought a woman from Ukraine - who was not one of the three who gave evidence. This woman had previously worked in Malta as a prostitute. The accused used to take this woman to prostitute herself at his farmhouse or a tenement in Marsascala.After two weeks, the accused gave this woman to his friend Kevin and later, they 'sold' her to Soleado Guesthouse for €600.
The witness said she also brought other women at the request of the accused. They worked as prostitutes in the farmhouse but one later found a boyfriend and left.
In all, the witness said she brought nine women from Russia but the accused had also 'bought' some other women from somebody else.
The witness explained how the accused used of get rid of the women if they were stubborn by selling them to third parties. She said that no one was free to leave the farmhouse, not even herself.
POLICE INTERMEDIARY IN SALE OF WOMAN
She said she was herself sold off to Kevin Amato, who was a member of the police force and use to help in the provision of visas.
The court also heard evidence from Kevin Amato himself about how he was an intermediary for the sale of a woman from the accused, but the buyer did not produce the full amount of €600 and there was an argument.
The court said the witness had described, in an inhuman manner, how the sale was made, as if the woman was a piece of furniture.
The court said it would not give the details of this sale because it was a disgrace to the human race.
In handing down sentence, the court said it had to stick to the articles of law quoted by the attorney general in the bill of indictment.
The court said the first charge did not apply to this case, as it only involved prostitution of children.
As for the charge of illegal trafficking of persons, the Attorney General had indicated a section of law which was not related to this case and was related to cheap labour. It was the following article which covered trafficking of persons for prostitution.
The court said, however. that it had been proved that the women were trafficked for purposes of prostitution. It was also proved that the accused had run a brothel.
The accused was sentenced to ten years for the charges related to this case and also ordered to serve another one year in jail for a prior conviction for which he had been handed a suspended sentence.
Lawyer George Cutajar, representing Steam Club in Paceville, said his clients had no knowledge of the case, never had contact with Mr Mifsud and were never called as witnesses by the prosecution.