Family in Bern court for human trafficking

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A man and his four grown up sons are due in court in canton Bern on charges of human trafficking and countless allegations of abuse, including rape.

The charge sheet is thirty pages long.

Prosecutors say the father paid for the then teenage girls in Albania and brought them to Switzerland as wives for his sons. The male side of the family then controlled their every movement for 16 years. 

The women were not allowed to leave the apartment and had to do household chores from day to night. They had been promised a better life in Switzerland.

The women – and their 10 children – are now being cared for by the authorities. 

The case in Moutier starts next week. 

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