Kada se robovlasnici i njihove džukele foliraju da su demokratija

Desilo se da džukele robovlasnika osude nebitne sitne robovlasnike koji ne finansiraju političke partije i političare ali neće da kažu da je u pitanju robovlasništvo nego trgovina ljudima, ne smeju da nazovu eksploataciju pravim imenom. U svakom slučaju rekruteri i eksloatatori su dobili uslovne i zatvorske kazne u francuskoj kriminalnoj kolonijalnoj “demokratiji” koja i dalje drži vojnike u Africi, na primer u Maliju gde pljačkaju zlato.

In September 2023, the company Anavim, acting as a service provider, offered unemployed people the opportunity to work the grape harvest. Seventy people from Africa, living in the Paris region, traveled to the Champagne region; many of them were undocumented. The next day, about ten asked to leave, and the same happened the following day, citing the reasons, the living conditions, and the lack of food.
Following alerts from local residents and the CGT union, the grape harvesters were discovered by the labor inspectorate in dilapidated housing in Nesle-le-Repons.
There were no sheets, no hot water… They were forced to work long hours and had not received a single cent of the EUR 80 per day they had been promised.

The trial in the first instance
Following an inspection by the labor inspectorate, the prefect of the Marne department issued an order on September 15th to close a hostel in Nesle-le-Repons that did not comply with regulations concerning collective accommodation. The report of the prefectural order denounces “the absence of a declaration of collective accommodation” and “the presence of numerous makeshift beds, the state of disrepair, decay, and unsanitary conditions, the lack of cleaning and disinfection, the repugnant condition of the toilets, sanitary facilities, and common areas, the accumulation of fecal matter in the sanitary facilities,” as well as “the existence of an electrical hazard.” The 52 seasonal workers, mostly from West Africa and undocumented, will be urgently rehoused in a hotel in Châlons-en-Champagne and in Reims by the Salvation Army. The public prosecutor’s office in Châlons-en-Champagne has opened an investigation for “human trafficking.” Complaints from the affected workers have been registered with law enforcement. Human trafficking is punishable by seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR150,000.

Four defendants will appear in court at the trial held on June 19, 2025, in Châlons-en-Champagne. The defendants are the director of the service company Anavim, two recruiters, and the manager of the company Cerseuillat de la Gravelle. This company also provides services and hired more than 300 seasonal workers for the 2023 harvest, 57 of whom are alleged victims of modern slavery, for multiple clients. During the sentencing, the presiding judge denounced the acts as being of “exceptional gravity” and explained that the three main defendants had sought to “profit from vulnerable people.” As such, they were all found guilty of “human trafficking committed against several persons” and received prison sentences. The director of the company Anavim was fined EUR 20,000 and sentenced to four years in prison, two of which are suspended, with an immediate warrant for her arrest. The company was dissolved. The two recruiters were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, one of which is suspended, and two years’ imprisonment, one of which is suspended, respectively. They were also ordered to pay fines of EUR 5,000 and EUR 3,000 respectively, are banned from residing in the Marne department for five years, and are prohibited from carrying or possessing a weapon for five years as well. The fourth defendant, the company Cerseuillat de la Gravelle, was fined EUR 75,000. For once, a client was convicted.

The appeal trial
The four convicted men had appealed their initial convictions. The appeal trial in the “harvest of shame” case of 2023 will take place on January 21 and 22, 2026.
In the dock, the director of Anavim, the company that employed the grape harvesters, is the only one appearing in custody. One of the two recruiters is also present, appearing as a free man. All are accused of participating in human trafficking. Also present is the president of the Cerseuillat de la Gravelle wine cooperative, who was fined EUR75,000 for using Anavim’s services without fulfilling his duty of care regarding the living and working conditions of the grape harvesters.

Husband under fire
Of the two recruiters who worked for Anavim, only one is present, a Georgian man in his thirties. He was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended, in the first instance for human trafficking. Before the appeals court, he explains that he was deceived by the company director and her husband and never received the money he had been promised. “I’m a victim like everyone else. I was lied to,” he asserts. He also speaks of “threats” from the couple and says he waited until his second period of police custody “to tell the truth.” Before the court, he accuses his former employer and her husband of racist remarks and negligence. “They
were poorly organized, they just wanted to make money,” he claims, adding that she was fully aware of the living conditions of the 57 grape harvesters. This version undermines the defense of the director of Anavim, who maintains that she is “in no way responsible for this tragedy.”

“Where are you from?” The defense attorney, representing the only defendant who was absent, outraged part of the courtroom. His questions to the plaintiffs focused solely on their migration journeys: “Where are you from? Why did you leave Mali? How much did you pay? Did you go through Libya or Morocco? Why didn’t you stay in Italy? Why did you come to France? You didn’t give the police information about the smugglers, even though it’s of interest to the French authorities! And so, you’ve had your status regularized since this whole affair, is that right?” Facing another plaintiff, he exclaimed: “People like you pay the smugglers who finance terrorism.”

There is also the bus driver who allegedly acted aggressively towards the grape harvesters and who, according to the recruiter present, had a knife in his pocket. Finally, there are the police officers who checked the bus as it left Porte de la Chapelle in Paris and let it go with about fifty undocumented people on board.

“They were all obeying the boss’s orders.” In court, three former grape harvesters gave the same account of their hiring: the methods of The recruitment methods differed slightly, but they were all promised the same thing: accommodation and a minimum wage of 80 euros per day. This is how they were lured to Porte de la Chapelle and boarded a bus to the premises in Nesle-le-Repon, where they endured the ordeal they had already recounted before the Châlons-en-Champagne criminal court.

Prison sentence requested
The public prosecutor, represented by the Advocate General at the Reims Court of Appeal, requested the same sentences as those already handed down in the first instance: four years’ imprisonment, two of which are to be served, with continued detention for the director and the dissolution of her service company, Anavim; three years, one of which is to be served, and two years, one of which is to be served, for the two recruiters. The court also requested confirmation of the 75,000 euro fine imposed on the Cerseuillat de la Gravelle SARL.

The case was adjourned for deliberation, and the verdict was delivered on March 4, 2026. Prosecuted for undeclared work, employing foreign nationals without work permits, “subjecting vulnerable or dependent individuals to undignified living conditions,” and providing “non-existent or insufficient compensation,”
the manager of the wine services company Anavim had her sentence upheld, as well as the dissolution of her company. Each of the 53 victims will also receive EUR 4,000 in damages. The two other defendants, the alleged recruiters, received a less severe sentence: one year of suspended imprisonment. The company Cerseuillat de la Gravelle, accused of using the services of someone engaged in undeclared work, was acquitted on appeal.