In Lviv region, an indictment has been submitted to court in respect of a man suspected of exploiting a person for labour for more than 20 years. This was reported by the Lviv Regional Police.
According to the investigation, the accused took advantage of the vulnerable situation of the victim, who had no permanent place of residence or stable income, and recruited him for further unpaid hard physical labour. For more than 20 years, the man worked without pay, lived in inadequate conditions without basic household amenities and was in complete material and psychological dependence on the accused.
Law enforcement officers established that the victim lived in an outbuilding unfit for habitation. During the summer, the accused took him outside the settlement to carry out farm work, where the man was housed in a metal container in unsanitary conditions.
To maintain control over the victim and to secure, in the offender’s view, high-quality performance of the work, physical and psychological violence was used against him. If the result of the work did not satisfy the accused, the man was repeatedly subjected to bodily harm. As a result of prolonged isolation and constant pressure, the victim was unable to resist his abuser on his own.
Over more than 20 years of labour exploitation, the man, who suffers from a number of chronic illnesses, was not provided with medical assistance even once. He is currently under medical supervision.
The accused was exposed by operatives of the Migration Police Department in Lviv region together with investigators of Police Division No. 1 of the Yavoriv District Police Department, under the procedural guidance of the Yavoriv District Prosecutor’s Office.
The pre-trial investigation was conducted under Part 2 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (trafficking in human beings). The indictment has been sent to court for substantive consideration. The article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of five to twelve years, with confiscation of property or without.