Two women tell sex-trafficking inquiry they were forced into prostitution [1]
Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 20:01. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
A Chinese national, a woman residing in Tongatapu appeared at a Preliminary Inquiry at the Fasi Magistrate's Court on May 19 on charges of trafficking persons into Tonga, keeping a brothel and trading in prostitution.
The woman Lirong Liu (44) was charged with five counts, including three for trafficking persons into Tonga, an offence under the Transnational Crimes Act. She also faced criminal charges of keeping a brothel and trading in prostitution.
Magistrate Sione 'Etika discharged a co-accused man, Jun Yang (52) due to insufficient evidence.
He found that there was a prima facie case against Lirong Liu and submitted it to the Supreme Court for arraignment on June 16.
During the inquiry, Senior Crown Counsel Sione Sisifa, for the prosecution, told the lower court that there were two victims, who are Chinese nationals residing in Tonga on work visas.
He said in March 2009 Lirong was in China and she convinced the two women aged 29 and 33 years to come to Tonga and work at her restaurant as waitresses.
In evidence the two women told the court that they paid Lirong up to $40,000 yen for their visas and airfares after she convinced them that she had a hotel and restaurant in Tonga where they would work and earn a salary of up to USD$1,000 monthly.
The 29-year-old woman confirmed that she flew from China to Tonga with Lirong in the first week of June 2009 and the other woman arrived in Tonga in the last week of the same month. They stated that upon arrival in Tongatapu they were shocked to find out that Lirong had no restaurant or business and there was no waitress job as promised. They said they were instead forced to become prostitutes and she took their passports away telling them it was for visa purposes.
Prostitution
The prosecution alleged the enslavement of these two women as prostitutes took place from June to July 2009 in Tongatapu.
The victims themselves confirmed residing with Lirong at a residence at Halaleva. However, they told the court that the prostitution did not take place at Halaleva where they stayed, instead they were taken to various places around Tongatapu, when they were needed by the men customers whom they said to be all Asians.
The victims told the court that Lirong threatened them that if they did not do the prostitution job they would be killed and thrown into the ocean, and that she received nearly all the money from the prostitution and gave them small amounts.
The Prosecution questioned the two women as to why they did not contact the police or the Chinese Embassy. They said Lirong told them that she knew everyone so she would find out. They also admitted the language barrier of not being able to speak Tongan or English was a problem for them.
The victims confirmed they had overstayed their visas and were residing separately now in Tongatapu.