US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA425

UNCLAS  BRATISLAVA 000425 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR EUR/NCE AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, SMIG, KWMN, LO 
SUBJECT: GENERAL PROSECUTOR PROVIDES BACKGROUND DETAILS ON 
TRAFFICKING CASES 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 360 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  General Prosecutor of the Slovak 
Republic Dobroslav Trnka provided post with nearly four pages 
of further background information detailing the Slovak 
Republic's prosecution of human traffickers.  While the 
information includes a different number of prosecuted 
individuals than Post and Washington have previously 
reported, this is likely due to the fact that this 
information reports prosecution statistics by individuals 
(rather than by the number of cases).  Trnka's report also 
provides additional information about cases already reported 
in the press, and also discusses the General Prosecutor's 
legal framework for pursuing sentencing.  Finally, the letter 
outlines several cases currently being pursued around 
Slovakia.  END SUMMARY. 
 
SLOVAKIA PROVIDES NUMBERS... 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  Slovak General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka 
responded to a letter from the Charge requesting additional 
information and statistics on TIP-related prosecutions and 
convictions, as requested by G/TIP for the annual Trafficking 
in Persons report.  Trnka wrote that his office continues to 
investigate, arraign, and charge individuals with trafficking 
violations, and cited the following numbers for 2004: 
 
-- 34 arrests 
-- 14 charges 
-- 8 convictions 
 
Post notes that these numbers do not track individual cases; 
it is possible that an individual charged in 2002, for 
example, was not convicted until 2004.  (Note:  Trnka's 
response gave different statistics than those provided to 
G/TIP by the Slovak Embassy in Washington, a discrepancy 
possibly explained by the use of "individuals" rather than 
"cases" as the denominator.) 
 
...SOME NARRATIVE... 
-------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU)  In addition to the statistics provided, Trnka's 
letter reasserts that, as the law provides, all those 
convicted of trafficking in persons received "unconditional 
sentences of imprisonment from three to six years."  Trnka's 
office also elaborated details on TIP cases gathered from the 
prosecutions, including the office's previously reported 
impression that most victims are economically disadvantaged 
women aged 18 to 25 years who are enticed to work abroad with 
promises of good pay, only then to be trafficked through 
Slovakia to the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, France, 
Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands, where they are forced 
into prostitution.  He described the incidence of trafficking 
in Slovakia as "sporadic" yet "increasing," and acknowledged 
that the statistics are only indicative of a broader 
trafficking problem. 
 
...AND ELABORATES ON SUCCESS STORIES SEEN IN PRESS 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
4.  (SBU)  Trnka provided anecdotal details on several cases 
during the past years, telling the stories behind the numbers 
previously reported to G/TIP.  One recent case the General 
Prosecutor draws attention to is being pursued by the 
District Prosecution Office in Galanta, in which a group of 
12 perpetrators had operated a trade in women to Germany, 
Switzerland, and France.  There were 31 identified victims of 
this trafficking ring, which was recently broken up by the 
Slovak Police in cooperation with Interpol and the German 
authorities.  The prosecutor reports strong evidence against 
the group, including videotape, evidence seized in home 
searches, surveillance, and forensic accounting. 
 
5.  (SBU)  In another case currently under prosecution by the 
Special Prosecutor's Office (which deals with high-level 
corruption and organized crime), a group of 9 men (8 Slovak 
and one Slovenian) are accused of recruiting and transporting 
54 Slovak women from Slovakia through Hungary and Austria to 
Slovenia, where they were forced to work as prostitutes.  A 
third case cited by the Gneral Prosecutor involves two men 
who recruited young women from Lucenec to "work abroad," and 
then transported them to Bratislava.  Once in the capital, 
they were turned over to a woman who transported them to 
Italy, where they were forced into prostitution.  These three 
perpetrators were found guilty, and received unconditional 
sentences varying from three to six years. 
 
 
6.  (SBU)  In yet another example, he wrote about the case of 
a small group of women who was selling poor Slovak women into 
prostitution in Italy (the perpetrators were successfully 
convicted).  In another case, six women from Slovakia were 
tricked by a group of four men into taking a "trip to 
Prague," during which they were sold into prostitution (the 
four men are currently being prosecuted).  A final case 
involved a group of 9 women who were taken from Slovakia to 
the Czech Republic and Germany, where their possessions were 
seized, they were locked in an apartment, and they were 
threatened with violence if they did not agree to work as 
prostitutes. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Trnka's letter is further evidence of the 
increasingly strong emphasis the Slovak Government has been 
giving to TIP issues in the past months (reftel).  It also 
represents the first time that the Office of the General 
Prosecutor (an independent entity, separate from the Ministry 
of Justice and one of post's primary interlocutors on 
trafficking) has compiled and provided detailed information 
to Post.  The General Prosecutor's office has always 
cooperated on providing information on a case-by-case basis, 
contacting each district prosecutor for updates for the 
annual TIP report.  We have thanked Trnka for his response, 
and asked him to provide this information to the Embassy on 
an annual basis for use in our drafting of the annual TIP 
report. 
 
 
THAYER 
 
 
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