The Federal Chamber of Salta ordered this week the opening of the oral trial against a sugar cane businessman from Jujuy who is 50 years old, for labor violence. He is accused of subjecting two workers to conditions of exploitation and overcrowding for over three decades on a farm located in the municipality of San Pedro.
The decision was made by Judge Mariana Inés Catalano, after dismissing the defense’s arguments and admitting the accusation filed by the prosecution and supported by the prosecution. The latter is represented by a public defender for victims, on behalf of one of the workers.
If convicted, the accused could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and have to pay a multimillion-dollar sum in compensation.
Slave labor on a sugar plantation: the serious accusation that led a producer to trial
The judge outlined the accusation made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, stating that the accused would have reduced J.C.V. and F.A.A. to servitude.
The oral trial focusing on a sugar plantation.
Both individuals, for 31 and 25 years respectively, were forced to work on a field where sugarcane harvest tasks were carried out.
With this decision, as reported by Infobae, the case was forwarded to the Federal Oral Court of Jujuy. They will have to appoint the judges responsible for conducting the trial in a collegiate manner.
Working conditions according to the accusation
“Since they started working for R., they lived on his farm, as they could only perform the tasks assigned to them if they lived there,” stated the judge.
“To do this, the accused provided them with an unworthy housing, a sort of precarious shack or ‘tenement’, where they lived with their families crowded together, without drinkable water, electricity, gas, or toilets, among other things,” she added.
The account of the events also addressed the workdays that the victims endured, working twelve hours a day. From Monday to Monday, without vacations or rest. Furthermore, they did not have safety measures, proper clothing, or appropriate tools.
“The compensation for these long working days was meager, reaching between $79,000 and $100,000 per month in July 2023,” Catalano pointed out. “An amount below the collective bargaining agreement salary and also below the legal minimum wage in Argentina when considering the number of days and hours worked per week.”
It was also detailed that the victims faced various penalties and suspensions resulting in significant deductions from their salaries. This prevented them from meeting the basic needs for the maintenance of their families.
According to the prosecution, this context, “which lasted for around three decades and under the accused’s control,” reduced the victims and their families to a state of “exploitation and extreme poverty.”
It happened in the department of San Pedro, Jujuy. (Photo: Wikipedia).
Potential sentence for the accused
The judge of the II Chamber of the Federal Chamber of Salta also confirmed the calculation of the economic compensation prepared by the accusers. It amounts to $34,892,716.32 for F.A.A. and $64,388,855.69 for J.C.V.
This takes into account the collective bargaining salary for a legal workday, overtime, the annual supplementary salary, and the unused vacation days, minus what was received during the exploitation period.
The prosecution also proposed a sentence of ten years of effective imprisonment plus absolute disqualification for the defendant.
This would be for the crime of “human trafficking for labor exploitation purposes, under the assumption of reduction to servitude, aggravated by abuse of the victims’ vulnerability and the consummation of their exploitation”.
Defense’s stance
The producer’s defense tried to halt the process with preliminary objections. They argued for the nullity of the accusation due to an alleged violation of the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law.
Furthermore, they argued the “lack of criminal action” by claiming that the businessman was not a “passive legitimization,” as he allegedly took over the company in 2014, after his father’s death.
They also alleged contradictions in the accusation, deficiencies in the evidence, and obstruction of the right to defense.
Catalano rejected all arguments and recalled that even in previous instances, other judges in the jurisdiction had confirmed the validity of the prosecution’s accusation to proceed with the proceedings.
