Government
officials in sex trafficking ring arrested
Horrifying testimony of woman sex-slave traded for a Mercedes shakes
political establishment of Yugoslav republic
London Independent 12/06/02: Vesna Peric Zimonjic
Original Link:
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=358924
When police in the tiny republic of Montenegro swooped on a suspected pimp
accused of running a major sex trafficking operation, they ran into an
embarrassing problem.
The man they were about to put behind bars was none other than the country's
deputy state prosecutor.
Montenegro has been shaken hard by the burgeoning scandal, which allegedly
involved leading members of the judiciary, police and political officials.
Zoran Piperovic, the republic's deputy prosecutor, was arrested this week,
and six other officials have been detained. They are accused of forcing
women, mostly from Moldavia, Ukraine and Romania, into prostitution.
The arrests are only a small part of the scandal, according to sources in
the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica. It is an open secret in the Balkans that
people-trafficking rings run through Montenegro to Bosnia and Kosovo, with
profits from the dirty trade reaching millions of euros.
The sex-slave routes lead to Italy and Britain, where at least 1,400 women,
mainly from eastern Europe, are tricked into prostitution each year. The
trade is highly lucrative for the men who "own" them; in London, women can
bring in about �100,000 a year for their pimps.
But in Montenegro, the junior partner of Serbia in the Yugoslav federation,
the revelations are even more shocking because of the prominence of the
alleged pimps and their victims' clients.
One of the alleged clients, Mr Piperovic, 46, was known for his lavish
lifestyle, luxury jeeps and homes that could not have come from his modest
civil servant salary, the investigators say. Mr Piperovic and his friends
were singled out in the allegations made by a 28-year-old Moldavian
national, who found shelter in Podgorica's Safe House for Women two weeks
ago.
The shelter is the first non-governmental organisation in Montenegro to deal
with the female victims of people trafficking. Ljiljana Raicevic, the head
of the shelter, recorded the woman's testimony and gave it to the police.
The woman, identified only by her initials "S C", repeated her story of sex
slavery to the investigative judge, Ana Vukovic, in Podgorica two days ago.
The session with the magistrate lasted for six hours, the sources say. S C
described how she came to Montenegro four years ago after being promised a
well-paid job. Instead, she ended up deprived of her passport and becoming a
sex slave. She was sold several times by the "bosses" who owned her and on
one occasion was traded for a Mercedes car.
As a sex slave, she entertained prominent members of the judiciary, police
and political officials. In perfect Serbian, which she learned over the
years, the Moldavian woman gave the names of the 20 most frequent
"customers".
She alleged that besides Mr Piperovic and his friends, these included the
State Prosecutor of Montenegro, Bozidar Vukcevic. Mr Vukcevic denies the
allegations, as well as the rumours that he was willing to talk about the
affair in exchange for not being arrested.
S C gave details of houses, caf�s and nightclubs where she "turned tricks"
and, with colleagues, was beaten and sexually abused. She tried to run away
several times and even to commit suicide, but eventually fled the hospital
and ended up in the shelter.
Among her clients were police officials who were in charge of deporting
foreign nationals caught in prostitution, but also some of the lawyers of
the recently arrested officials.
"S C is a highly intelligent and educated person, a former athlete," Ms
Raicevic said. "We had to go public after hearing her story, which is
similar to so many others." So far, 48 women have found shelter in the safe
house.
"We practically dared the government, the police and the judiciary to say
what they know about what had been heard through the grapevine for years,"
Ms Raicevic said.
Analysts say that human trafficking has replaced the once profitable
practice of cigarette smuggling in Montenegro. Organised crime was forced to
turn to other business in the changed political climate in the area after
the fall of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic two years ago, which led to
laws and regulations legalising the tobacco trade.
'Our battle against this evil must be effective'
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
The safe House for Women in Podgorica is based in an ordinary and modest
two-floor family building. But there are precious few warm family stories to
be heard here.
Any warmth and comfort comes from Ljiljana Raicevic and a group of
volunteers who run the only shelter for human trafficking and sex-slavery
victims in Montenegro. "I'm doing this because many women have become
victims of human trafficking and sex slavery," Ms Raicevic said. "I hope the
battle against this evil can be effective."
Ms Raicevic, 55, who has three children and two grandchildren, had the idea
of helping women while working at the healthcare centre in the Montenegrin
capital. "At first, it was violence against women in general that attracted
my attention," Ms Raicevic says. "Then, one thing led to another."
Montenegro, the sister republic of Serbia in the rump Yugoslav Federation,
is home to a community that cherishes conservative values. Women are largely
regarded as second-rate citizens and family violence is an unspoken shame.
Ms Raicevic originally started a shelter for battered women but with the
increase in human-trafficking operations created the "safe house". The Safe
House for Women was registered as a non-profit organisation in 1999. It has
so far housed 48 women who were tricked into prostitution.