A lawyer representing Chinese textile company Leisure Clothing this afternoon said the company was willing to pay its due to workers who complained about their working and living conditions.

Lawyer Pio Valletta was replying to a request made by presiding magistrate Carol Peralta when he was hearing the testimony of Nguem Van Giam, who said he only worked for the company for 20 days but never got paid for his work.

Dr Valletta said the company was prepared to pay the amounts due to workers on which there is no contest and said the amounts could be deposited in court.

However, this did not go down well with the magistrate who said that these Vietnamese people were living in Malta and needed the money to sustain themselves.

“Let us be human,” the magistrate told the lawyer in a harsh tone.

The rest of the five-hour sitting was taken up by Mr Giam’s testimony. He explained how he came to Malta through a Vietnamese agency and was promised €685 a month. He said he paid the agency a total of 70 million Vietnamese Dong (around €1,000) as deposit for the “highly-paid” job.

He said the accommodation was substandard and the food was dirty and lacked vitamins. He said they were fed mostly cabbage, without fish or meat and the one packet of six rolls of toilet paper and two bottles of water was not enough for a month. Asked by the court if he had three meals a day, he replied in the affirmative, but added that breakfast consisted only of a steamed bun.

He said that when he complained, Han Bin told him to pack up his bags so he could  be sent back to Vietnam. He asked him to pay him the money he was owed as well as the 20 million Dong deposit he had paid but he refused. Mr Bin said the company was paying for flight back to Vietnam so there was no reason for him to ask for more money.

Mr Giam was testifying in the compilation of evidence against company managing director Bin Han, 46, from San Ġwann and marketing director Jia Liu, 31, from Birżebbuġa, are charged with human trafficking and the exploitation of Chinese and Vietnamese workers at Leisure Clothing. They are pleading not guilty.

The case continues.

Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted. Lawyer Edward Gatt is also appearing for the accused. Lawyer Katrine Camilleri and Karl Briffa are appearing parte civile for the Vietnamese workers.