Judgement deferred in trial of Chinese nationals

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 (Page 3 Lead)


THE Accra Circuit Court yesterday deferred delivery of its judgement in the case involving three Chinese nationals who have been accused of trafficking girls for prostitution.
The trial judge, Mrs Elizabeth Ankomah, informed the prosecution and the defence team at the court’s sitting in Accra that she had not completed writing the judgement.
She, therefore, fixed June 22, 2009 as the new date for judgement in the trial which began on March 5, 2009 and involves James Xu Jin, the alleged ringleader, his wife, Chou Xiou Ying, and Sam Shan Zifan, James's younger brother, who are believed to be part of a West African human trafficking syndicate.
They have each been charged with conspiracy and human trafficking and they have pleaded not guilty to all the charges and have been refused bail.
The trial judge fixed the date after she had announced to the court that the prosecution and the defence teams had filed their addresses in the case.
Eleven witnesses, including 10 for the prosecution and one for the defence, were called in the trial.
The seven victims were led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ms Mary Agbozo, to testify.
According to the girls, they were recruited from Harbin, a city in China, under the guise that they were to assist Jin and Chou to run a restaurant in Accra for good salaries but on arrival in Ghana they were forced into prostitution by James and Chou.
The testimony of the girls, whose names have been withheld, were similar: They were all poor, they all owed Jin who paid for their air fare and other transport arrangements, their passports were seized and they had to pay a penalty of $50 a day or $1,500 anytime they refused to offer sex, which they were forced to do sometimes four or five times in a day.
They also said they relied on tips from their clients, who were mostly Lebanese, Chinese and Indians.
An investigative journalist, Mr Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whose seven-month investigations led to the arrest of the accused persons on February 14, 2009, also gave evidence on the activities of the accused persons.
He produced video and audio tapes on the activities of the accused persons.
Other witnesses for the prosecution included the investigator in the case and an official from the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
The accused persons, who were led by their counsel, Mr B.O.K. Johnson, to testify, said they operated a restaurant and not a brothel.