Last Friday the court was urgently opened at 10pm and three men and a woman admitted trafficking two Russian women to force them into prostitution.
Darren and Ingrid Bonnici, from Marsascala, 22 and 20 years old respectively, Eugenio Agius, 44, from St Paul’s Bay, and another man, whose name cannot be published, were also guilty of making a living off profits made through the prostitution of these women and of organising a brothel.
Agius had the added charge of owning the premises used for prostitution.
On the same day, another man, Sandro Psaila, a 32-year-old soldier from Bahar ic-Caghaq, pleaded not guilty to the same charges pressed against the other four people.
All the accused were granted bail against a Lm10,000 personal guarantee. The court is expected to pass judgement on those who pleaded guilty next week.
The court was once again opened with urgency on Saturday evening and two more men were charged with trafficking the same two Russian women.
The two men, one of whom is a police constable, cannot be named due to a court order. They both admitted forcing these women into prostitution and conspiring to traffic women with Eugenio Agius and Sandro Psaila, both arraigned the day before.
The policeman was also guilty of committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent. His case was deferred for submissions on punishment while the other man was given a one-year jail term suspended for two.
Sources in court claim the women are bought and sold regularly. One person acts as their pimp for a while and then sells them to someone else. It has been said these women are given about 30 per cent of what they make through prostitution and they are usually sold for about Lm700 each time, sources said.
Yesterday, yet another man was charged with forcing Russian women into prostitution. He was accused of organising a brothel and living off the women’s earnings.
In the past few weeks 11 people have been charged with these crimes; some have admitted and some have denied their involvement. The cases are being investigated and as yet, no concrete information has been given on exactly how these women are brought here and how the transactions take place.