The suspects from the city of Szeged have coerced their victim into prostitution for years. In another trafficking case, the prosecution is seeking the imposition of executable imprisonment against 13 members of a criminal organisation.
The 40-year-old Zsolt A., resident of Szeged, Csongrád-Csanád county is suspected of having bought the then 19-year-old victim from her boyfriend at the beginning of 2017. As a means of deception they made her believe that they have to go to jail for a debt to the Police, if they don’t find a way to make money urgently. Hearing this, the victim agreed to work abroad, although at the point she hasn’t known yet the nature of the work. Soon after Zsolt A. and his accomplice (wife) took her documents; she has been beaten and induced by constant threats to work as a prostitute, first in their apartment in Szeged, then in another property there, and later in Germany and Austria. The perpetrators have taken photos of the victim, advertising the sexual services on websites. The victim suffered regular abuse and insults, reinforcing the feeling that there’s no way out from her vulnerable situation. When she fell ill in connection with prostitution, she was not even allowed to seek medical care.
The victim could not retain a penny, the income of the sexual services was wholly taken by Zsolt A. and his wife. According to the data of the investigation it amounted to more than 10 million HUF (approx. 28 000 EUR). The victim was later forced into prostitution in Germany by a man named Gyula T.
Riot Police National Bureau of Investigation Criminal Intelligence Department THB-unit apprehended both men in a joint operation with the Riot Police Action Support Division on 30 June 2020 and initiated their arrest. The police are still searching for the wife of Zsolt A. staying in an unknown location.
Another trafficking case is already being prosecuted in early July. During the spring of 2019, police dismantled a 13-person strong criminal organisation operating in the town of Dunaújváros that coerced Hungarian girls – including minors – into prostitution in Vienna. The Fejér County Chief Prosecutor’s Office sought the imposition of executable penitentiary terms against all perpetrators for the felony of aggravated trafficking in human beings and for other criminal offenses.
Sources (in Hungarian): http://www.police.hu/hu/hirek-es-informaciok/legfrissebb-hireink/bunugyek/megvettek-futtattak-kizsakmanyoltak-megalaztak#6