The trial will start next week of six people accused of human trafficking, of coercion to engage in prostitution and of related offences.
The case before the Provincial Court in Palma goes back to events that started in 2013. The head of an organisation had arranged for Nigerian women to enter Majorca illegally. Once in Majorca, the women were forced to become prostitutes in order to pay off the massive debts that they supposedly had incurred in travelling from Nigeria. As a means of control, they were threatened with the use of voodoo to harm them and their families.
This individual took at least two women, one of them underage, to the home of one of the others who are accused. The women operated around the area of calle Marbella in Playa de Palma until the head of the organisation was arrested in a police operation.
One of the women subsequently received threats for having testified to the police. She was later attacked by two other women, both of whom will also be on trial.
The prosecution service is seeking a sentence totalling 26 years and three months for the ringleader. The full list of charges is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, coercive prostitution of minors, violation of the rights of foreign citizens, obstructing the course of justice, and threats.
Other sentences being demanded for differing offences range from two to ten years.