Three jailed for human trafficking after workers ‘treated like slaves’ in Champagne
“You don’t play with the health and safety of seasonal workers. Nor are we playing with the image of our appellation,” warns the Comité Champagne after a landmark ruling saw jail time doled out and a winemaking co-operative fined €75,000.
A court case heard on 21 July found three people guilty of human trafficking and exploiting seasonal workers within the Champagne industry.
More than 50 victims, all undocumented migrant workers from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal, were found during the September 2023 harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in Nesle-le-Repons in the Marnes department of Champagne.
The lawyer representing the victims praised the court’s “historic decision” after a judge ordered the company responsible for the worker’s mistreatment to be dissolved, and sentenced three individuals involved to prison time. All three were found guilty of human trafficking — defined under French law as “recruiting, transporting, transferring, housing or receiving a person to exploit them,” by means of coerced employment, abusing a position of authority, abusing a vulnerable situation or in exchange of payment or benefits.
Each of the three found guilty were also ordered to pay €4,000 per victim.
Servicing company
The company at the heart of the controversy is Anavim, described as a ‘servicing firm’ in Champagne. The director of Anavim, a Kyrgyz woman in her forties, was sentenced to two years behind bars, with a further two years suspended.
Meanwhile, the court in Chalons-en-Champagne also sentenced two men in their thirties to one year each in jail.
The court ordered Anavim to be dissolved as a company, and instructed a winemaking cooperative it worked with to pay a €75,000 fine.
Intends to appeal
A lawyer for the convicted Anavim director said he plans to appeal the decision, and appeared to point the finger at the Champagne industry for an issue he implied was ongoing.
“My client is the ideal culprit for an industry that has long turned a blind eye to its own practices,” said Bruno Questel.
The Anavim director denies being responsible for the workers’ housing conditions, blaming the two other defendants suspected of recruiting the harvesters for the “appalling” sanitary state of the accommodation. According to the labour inspectorate who examined the housing for the grape pickers, the conditions “seriously undermined” their safety, health and dignity.
Information from The Drinks Business
