A pre-trial investigation was launched in Lithuania in April 2016 after receiving information that a 53-year-old man living in the district of Klaipėda and the owners of a British company “brutally exploited” people who had come to England to work.
It is suspected that a number of men, who did not speak English, had no money and did not know the local laws, “were induced into slavery” by false promises of easy and well-paid jobs. The men, who worked as chicken catchers, were subjected to physical and psychological violence, the Klaipėda police said in a press release.
“They did not have any social guarantees. They worked at night, without rest days and holidays, and were paid much less than promised. The workers lived in unsanitary conditions in small premises and were not provided with any medical assistance,” the police said.
As part of their investigation, Klaipėda officers last fall visited Britain to question some victims living in Canterbury and Manchester and gather other material for the case. Part of the victims were additionally questioned in Lithuania.
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