Finnish court convicts two in largest human trafficking case over Thai berry pickers

A Finnish district court has convicted two men in the country’s largest human trafficking case, involving 78 Thai berry pickers exploited in northern Finland, public broadcaster Yle reports.

Jukka Kristo, the former CEO of berry procurement firm Polarica, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, while his Thai business partner Kalyakorn “Durian” Phongphit received a nine-month term. Kristo was additionally banned from conducting business for five years and stripped of his military rank.

The Lapland District Court reduced Phongphit’s sentence in light of a separate three-and-a-half-year prison term he received last autumn for 62 counts of aggravated human trafficking. Both rulings remain subject to appeal.

The case centres on the exploitation of Thai workers brought to Finland for berry picking under conditions deemed to constitute human trafficking.