SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Five people arrested for allegedly ‘enslaving’ German teens

A German man and four others were arrested in Romania for allegedly holding troubled German teenagers like slaves, officials said Thursday.

Five people arrested for allegedly 'enslaving' German teens
Archive photo shows police siren. Photo: DPA

A judge ordered the five to be detained for 30 days, the German's lawyer loan Sas told AFP.

The man, who founded a programme for adolescents with problems, is “accused of creating an organized criminal group, human trafficking and sequestration”, he said.

“There is no proof against him,” Sas said, adding the centre continued to operate.

The man's German wife and two others, who were also involved with the programme, have been placed under judicial control and will have to report to police while investigations are on, prosecutors said.

The “Projekt Maramures”, financed by the German state, was licensed by Romania's labour ministry, according to investigators.

A German foreign ministry spokeswoman has said her country had not been aware of any problem in the past 20 years.

But Romanian prosecutors allege children aged 12 to 18 were detained in “slavery-like conditions”, forced to “do exhausting physical labour”.

They were treated in “humiliating and degrading” ways on a farm and in numerous households in the Maramures county village of Viseu de Sus.

The teens were beaten, deprived of food, not allowed to study or take prescription medicines, had no contact with the outside world and were targets of “harsh and brutal methods of so-called re-education”, they said.

A total of 20 children were in the centre when prosecutors searched it on Tuesday, together with seven in other houses, according to the local child protection agency.

Four of the children are now in the care of social services, waiting for their parents or legal guardian.

“The others are still in the centre, which continues to function normally,” Sas told AFP.

Abuse allegations surrounding the programme have surfaced in Romanian media in the past, but no action had been taken until now.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

SHOW COMMENTS