According to oneworld.net, the Special Court for Organized Crime in Belgrade will begin proceedings against ten men charged with organized crime and human trafficking. The prosecution claims that the men sent girls from Serbia to Venice, Italy, where they were forced into prostitution. Drawn in with stories of a better life and lucrative restaurant jobs, the girls accepted 500 Euros in advance for "travel expenses." En route to Italy, their passports were taken away and replaced with forged Croatian identification cards. Smuggled into Venice by boat, the girls were put under tight watch by members of the Serbian, Albanian and Russian mafia. One girl, who managed to escape, will appear as a witness in the case.
Compiled from: "Trial Group charged with Human Trafficking Starts at Special Court," Network of East-West Women Polska/NEWW, What's New, Newsletter No. 48, 13 September 2004.