Eight princesses from Abu Dhabi's ruling al-Nahyan family were each
given a 15-month suspended prison sentence and fined 165,000 euros
($185,000) on Friday after a court in Belgium found them guilty of human
trafficking and abusing their servants.
The case dates back to July 2008, when Princess Shekha Alnehayan, and
her seven daughters rented an entire floor of Brussels' Conrad Hotel for
several months and brought more than 20 servants with them.
According to the prosecution, the workers were "treated like slaves" and
forced to attend to the princesses' every wish 24 hours a day, while
not being given enough food or beds to sleep in. Prosecutors said the
princesses had also confiscated their passports and refused to pay their
salaries.
Authorities were made aware of the degrading conditions after one
servant managed to flee the hotel and report the case to the police, who
subsequently raided the hotel.
Sheikha Hamda al-Nahyan and her seven daughters, including their Indian
butler. who didn't attend the trial denied all the charges.
Their lawyer, Stephen Monod, said he was "satisfied to note that the
Belgian justice has appropriately assessed this case which has generated
many misconceptions for nearly 10 years".
He was unable to confirm that his clients would pay their fines, saying they had not yet decided whether to appeal.
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