5 Thai Captains, 3 Indonesians Sentenced to 3 Years in Jail for Enslaving Fishermen
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Associated Press] By Daniel Leonard - March 11, 2016
AMBON, Indonesia (AP) — Five Thai fishing boat captains and three Indonesians were sentenced Thursday to three years in jail for human trafficking in connection with slavery in the seafood industry.
The suspects were arrested in the remote island village of Benjina last May after the abuse was revealed by The Associated Press in a report two months earlier. The men were tried separately in Tual, an island in southeastern Maluku province, about 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) east of Jakarta.
The three-judge panel also ordered the defendants to pay fines of about $12,250 each or serve two more months in jail. In addition, the Thai captains — Youngyut Nitiwongchaeron, Boonsom Jaika, Surachai Maneephong, Hatsaphon Phaetjakreng and Somchit Korraneesuk — have to pay a total of $67,800 in compensation to their crew members.
"They all have been proven guilty of violating the anti-human trafficking law...
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