CHÂLONS-EN-CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE: A French court on Monday (July 21) sentenced three people to jail for human trafficking in the Champagne region, ruling they exploited dozens of seasonal migrant workers and housed them in appalling conditions during the 2023 grape harvest.
The trial, which centred on a company called Anavim, highlighted growing scrutiny over labour practices in the wine-making sector. A separate investigation is also probing the alleged use of undocumented Ukrainian workers in the same harvest, which was marked by intense heat and the deaths of four grape pickers.
More than 50 victims, mostly undocumented migrants from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal, told the court they had been treated “like slaves.”
‘LIKE SLAVES,’ NO FOOD OR WATER
“The people were working in really bad conditions, and this decision is fair,” said Amadou Diallo, a 39-year-old Senegalese man.
The court sentenced the Kyrgyz director of Anavim to two years in prison, plus a two-year suspended term. She denied responsibility for the housing, blaming two male associates who helped recruit the workers. The two men, both in their thirties, were each sentenced to one year in jail with additional suspended terms.
All three were convicted of human trafficking, defined under French law as exploiting a person through coercion, authority, vulnerability, or for payment. The Anavim director was also convicted of concealing the employment of undocumented workers.
The court ordered the dissolution of Anavim and imposed a €75,000 (US$87,000) fine on a wine-making cooperative that worked with the firm. The three defendants must pay €4,000 to each victim.
A lawyer for the Anavim director said the ruling was “unfair” and would be appealed. “My client is the ideal culprit for an industry that has long turned a blind eye to its own practices,” said defence lawyer Bruno Questel.
