Prosecuting inspector Louise Calleja told the court that women are being brought to Malta for prostitution purposes and are regularly passed under the control of different people. One person leads us to another, she said.

James Grima, a 29-year-old taxi driver from Mosta, was charged yesterday with trafficking two Russian women and forcing them into prostitution during May and June. He was also accused of making a living off money made through the prostitution of these women, organising a brothel and owning flats used for prostitution.

After the man pleaded not guilty to all the charges pressed against him, the prosecution called up a 22-year-old woman to

testify against him.

The girl, whose name cannot be published due to a court order, told the court that she came to Malta to “give sexual

service”.

The arrangements for her to come to Malta were made through an agency in Moscow. In Russia the girl was told that a Maltese man named James was married to a Russian woman and brought girls over from Russia to give sexual service. The witness said she did not pay for her flight – “James paid,” she said. As a result the woman was in debt and was therefore not paid for the services she eventually provided.

When she and another Russian girl arrived in Malta on 6 May, they were taken to wait outside a hotel. The accused picked them up and took them to his Bugibba flat, the witness said. He later took them to a hotel were they gave sexual services to two different men.

The woman was not paid personally, but she said the accused’s Russian wife, Nadia, had told her the men pay James Lm15 for half an hour of sexual service. The witness said she stayed at Grima’s flat for about four or five days and she serviced around two men a day. During this time she was not allowed out alone and was not given a key to the flat.

After this period of time a man named Sandro came to the flat, she said. She knew he was going to take her to his house in Bahar ic-Caghaq for more of the same work. The woman said she did not know of any arrangement made between James and Sandro but Nadia had told her “how it worked”.

The money she had owed James Grima for her trip to Malta was now owed to Sandro. “He will pay my debt,” she said. The debt in question was of about 900 dollars (Lm320). The woman also said she gave Nadia 400 dollars (Lm142) given to her by the agency in Russia.

The emotional young woman’s answers were translated by a court-appointed interpreter since her English is not very fluent. She cried through part of her testimony and was visibly shaken by the experiences she described.

At yesterday’s sitting the accused’s request for bail was denied on the grounds that evidence may be tampered with. Grima was remanded in custody. The prosecution said the other Russian girl still has to be found and the investigation on this prostitution ring has not been concluded. The court was presided over by Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna. Inspectors Louise Calleja and Raymond Aquilina prosecuted while Dr Anglu Farrugia appeared for the accused.