It was last year that 150 Thai berry pickers came to Åsele in Västerbotten where they were promised wages according to a collective agreement, which they did not receive, according to the prosecutor.
In addition, the accommodations were inadequate. Some of the cars that were provided had a driving ban and they had to pay for the fuel themselves. There was also a lack of food to such an extent that they were forced to eat offal that they found in the forest. Working days could also stretch from early morning to late evening.
– They have been promised conditions that are according to the collective agreement regarding salary and working hours. But then they were allowed to work indefinitely and then it was said that you only get the minimum possible salary, says prosecutor Petra Götell.
Several berry pickers sounded the alarm
About 40 berry pickers raised the alarm about the bad conditions in September last year. Nine people stayed in Åsele and told the police what they had been through. This led to the arrest of the carrier operators. But the defense argued that it is the Thai staffing company that was responsible for the berry pickers.
– These pickers have been employed by a Thai company, they have not been employed by his company. This means that if there are deficiencies in salary or something else, they must now turn to their employer. My client is not responsible for that, says lawyer Mikael Stenman.
Can be imprisoned for ten years
The prosecutor wants to have the carrier companies convicted of human trafficking, alternatively gross human exploitation. It is, purely under criminal law, imprisonment of between two and ten years.
– I hope and believe in a conviction and then I hope that it sends signals to the carrier companies how they can behave and should behave. But should it happen that there is not a conviction, I think it sends a signal to the Riksdag and the government
that these rules for berry pickers and other temporary workers who come in must be changed, says Petra Götell.