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Indonesia opens trials of 8 accused of enslaving fishermen

by PH November 16, 2015, 2:31 pm

Tual – An Indonesian court has opened the trials of three Indonesians and five Thais charged with human trafficking connected with slavery in the seafood industry.

The suspects were arrested in the remote island village of Benjina in May after the slavery was revealed by The Associated Press in a report two months earlier.

The defendants were being tried separately on Monday in Tual, a municipality in south-eastern Maluku province, about 2 900km southeast of Jakarta.

Youngyut Nitiwongchaeron, a 53-year-old Thai captain, was the first to go on trial.

The three Indonesian and five Thai boat captains are employees at Pusaka Benjina Resources, one of the largest fishing firms in eastern Indonesia.

If found guilty they could face jail sentences of up to 15 years and fines as high as $46 000.