'We didn't recruit girls for prostitution'

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (Page 3 Lead)

TWO of the Chinese nationals who are alleged to have trafficked Chinese girls have denied recruiting the girls for prostitution.
James Xu Jin, 41, the alleged mastermind, and his wife, Chou Xiou Ying, claimed that all but one of the girls came to Ghana on their own volition.
They claimed that they were responsible for only one of the girls, although the others lived in their (accused persons) house at La.
The two informed the court, presided over by Mrs Elizabeth Ankumah, that they ran a restaurant and not a prostitution gang, as was alleged by the prosecution.
Jin, Chou and Sam Shan Zifan, James’s younger brother, have each been charged with conspiracy and human trafficking and they have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
All the victims were recruited from Harbin, a city in China, with the promise that they were to assist Jin and Chou to run a restaurant in Accra for good salaries but they ended up in prostitution.
Testifying in court under cross-examination from the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ms Mary Agbozo, Jin told the court that the $14,000 recovered from his house on the day of their arrest did not emanate from sexual exploitation of the girls.
Speaking through an interpreter, Jin stated that he ran the restaurant with the other two accused persons and further pointed out that the drinks stocked in his house were meant for those who patronised the restaurant and not for men who visited the girls.
According to the accused person, the victims patronised casinos, to his disapproval, and further denied deceiving immigration officials, officials from the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) and the Registrar General’s Department that he ran a restaurant.
Jin admitted owning some CD players which were at his residence but claimed that he did not know they contained sordid scenes.
According to the prosecution, one of the CD players contained sexual scenes of a woman being burnt with a burning cigarette, while an iron was inserted in her vagina.
It also stated that one of the CD players contained a scene of a woman sucking the genitals of a horse.
Both the prosecution and the defence are expected to watch the CD players, together with the court, on the next adjourned date.
Jin denied showing those movies to the girls to scare them into agreeing to engage in prostitution.
Led by her counsel, Mr B. O. K. Johnson, Chou, 30, told the court that most of the girls were her neighbours back in China who decided to accompany her to work in Ghana.
She claimed that she did not know how the girls procured their passports, air tickets and visas but admitted that they put up with her and her husband at La.
She further claimed that the girls went out all the time but she did not know the work they did while outside, adding that her husband even told her he did not like the attitude of the girls.
The accused person said the girls often paced the restaurant and often disrupted her customers, adding that she and Jin quarrelled often because of the girls.
During cross-examination, Chou said her husband’s restaurant was called “James Garden Chinese Restaurant”, while the house in which they lived at La was called “Peach Blossom Palaces”.
According to her, the two names meant the same thing and further explained that the restaurant was near the La Police Station.
She informed the court that she did not understand immigration procedures and could, therefore, not explain why her husband gave different addresses to the GIPC and immigration officials.
Hearing continues today.