STA, 6 August 2019 - Sergej Racman, an erstwhile successful businessman who is wanted in Slovenia under an Interpol Red Notice alert for his alleged role in a prostitution ring, has expressed willingness to make himself available for proceedings running against him, provided he is allowed to preserve his dignity.

"Racman is not on the run or avoiding criminal procedure to avoid his accountability in any way," his lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar said in a written statement on Tuesday.

She said that Racman did not report to law enforcement authorities because he had been living abroad since 2010. She said the European arrest warrant and the Interpol Red Notice were unnecessary.

Racman, the former owner of the cinema chain operator Kolosej, has been wanted since late July when the court ordered his detention as a prime suspect in a prostitution ring operating near Nova Gorica.

The ring, which allegedly abused more than 400 foreign girls for prostitution in the Marina Sauna Club near Nova Gorica since August 2014, was dismantled by the police in January.

In July the Koper district prosecution filed an indictment against 18 individuals and one legal entity charging them with prostitution, human trafficking and drug abuse.

Racman's lawyer said that the businessman "has never been involved in peddling prostitution and justifiably expects that he will be cleared of the charge in the judicial proceedings".

However, she said that, until the trial, Racman expected "the law enforcement authorities to respect his person and his dignity".

Alerting the media about the time and place of the handover or arrest would "undoubtedly lead to uncalled for humiliation and ridicule of the suspect", the lawyer said.

Racman "rejects obvious attempts by the law enforcement authorities to make a public spectacle out of his arrival in Slovenia", the lawyer said.

The lawyer said the law enforcement authorities have been notified of Racman's willingness to return to Slovenia and defend himself in a way that will allow him to keep his dignity.

All our stories on prostitution in Slovenia can be found here

STA, 6 August 2019 - A civil initiative providing advocacy for asylum seekers has warned about allegedly unbearable conditions at Ljubljana's Vič Asylum Centre, accusing some security guards of intimidation and even involvement in organised smuggling of asylum seekers. Security firm Varovanje Galekom denies all the accusations.

The Fight for Freedom/La Lutte de la Liberte group gave a news conference on Tuesday in front of the asylum centre, located in the south-west in Cesta v Gorice Street, after a recent fight between asylum seekers and security guards which involved a knife.

The initiative suspects some of the Galekom security guards are involved in organised smuggling of asylum seekers.

The Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants, responding to the news conference, said an asylum seeker had notified it of the alleged smuggling last month, which was then reported to the police.

The Ljubljana Police Department confirmed for the STA several persons were being investigated, but provided no details as the investigation is in the preliminary stage.

According to the civil initiative, the asylum seeker who had reported the suspicion of human smuggling was intimidated by some other security guards, who also denied him medication.

The foreigner's medical conditions eventually worsened, as a result of which he was involved in three fights, including the most massive one on 25 July, which also involved the police, the initiative said.

The police detained two foreigners involved in the incident. One of them was sent to the Centre for Foreigners in Postojna, south-west, which he cannot leave, so he started a hunger strike.

The initiative believes the asylum seeker was moved to Postojna because he had complained about the smuggling of people, and was deprived of freedom for what he had seen.

This was denied by Katarina Štrukelj, the acting head of the government office. She said the two things were not related, explaining the asylum seeker was moved to Postojna because of inappropriate conduct and violent behaviour.

She said the 25 July incident took place after the foreigner came to the reception desk complaining he could not sleep, and lied on the floor with a knife wrapped in a towel.

When the security guards tried to take his knife, he got violent, so the police were called in, and did its job, Štrukelj said in a press release.

She said the cooperation between the asylum centre and the security firm was good, adding three security guards deemed unfit for the job had been replaced.

Galekom confirmed this, saying some security guards were evaluated as acting outside the set rules already in June, so the security firm took action against them.

It strongly rejected the allegation its staff acted brutally, explaining they had certain measures at disposal but resorted to them only when really necessary.

This was also the case with pepper spray in the 25 July incident, Galekom said, adding its staff "acted professionally with a focus on understanding and humanity".

It said the firm and security guard heads at the asylum centre's facilities took great care in carrying out their duties to avoid any abuse of security measures.

"No security guard yells at people at the asylum centre, abuses them or treats them inappropriately."

Galekom added asylum seekers were aware no sharp objects were allowed on the premises, so it intends to file a criminal report against the asylum seeker.

Štrukelj also said some asylum seekers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, so events such as these did happen, "but not very often at the annual level".

Meanwhile, Jošt Žagar of the civil initiative said the asylum seekers with whom they were in touch could not appear at today's press conference.

"The boys ... are not allowed to leave the asylum centre today. Something is apparently being covered up."

Reading their statement in Arabic, English and Slovenian, members of the initiative also said asylum seekers were accommodated in small, cramped rooms, get only the most basic medical services and have practically no access to public transportation. They also criticised lengthy procedures to get asylum or a work permit granted.

But apart from the criticism, the initiative also stressed not all security guards were violent.

It praised some for "doing their job in a very humane manner", and lauded the situation at the asylum centre's department for families.

The latest data from the office for migrants shows there were 313 asylum seekers in Slovenia yesterday, of whom the most at the asylum centre in Cesta v Gorice Street.

While this facility can accommodate 203 persons, there were 167 there on 5 August.

STA, 5 August 2019 - Four men from Koper have been sentenced to a total of more than 11 years in jail for transporting illegal migrants who crossed into Slovenia from Croatia in the south, a regional newspaper reports.

According to Primorske Novice, the group went into the business of smuggling migrants early in 2018, after a Croat crashed a vehicle full of migrants into a Slovenian police patrol car before fleeing home.

The Croat allegedly got in touch with a Koper man, now aged 29, who recruited three more men from Koper and its vicinity. They are now aged 30, 35 and 28.

The group did their business as part of a criminal ring, other members of which gathered illegal migrants in the Zagreb area and organised their transport to the border with Slovenia.

The migrants crossed the border on foot with the help of guides, and two of the four Koper men then organised their transport ahead, performed by the other two defendants.

Facing the charges at the Koper District Court in the spring this year, two of the four pleaded guilty, the 29-year-old and the 28-year-old.

The latter was given a year and 8 months for transporting migrants twice. He will serve the sentence by performing 1,200 hours of community work. He was also slapped with a EUR 2,000 fine.

The 29-year-old was sentenced to eight and a half years for smuggling of migrants, reckless driving and abandoning an injured person in an accident, all of which happened during his arrest.

The other two pleaded not guilty. They were sentenced to three and a half and three years in prison and fines of EUR 1,000 and 2,000. The sentences are not yet final, Primorske Novice writes.

The four were involved in the illegal business between February and May 2018 in the areas of Ilirska Bistrica and Mlini in Istria.

STA, 31 July 2019 - Interpol has issued an arrest warrant against Slovenian businessmen Sergej Racman, the former owner of the cinema chain operator Kolosej, who is being sought by the Slovenian police in connection with a prostitution ring that was allegedly operating near Nova Gorica.

Racman has recently been indicted as the prime suspect together with 17 persons after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) completed in January a four-year investigation into prostitution, human trafficking and drug abuse in the areas of Nova Gorica and Maribor.

Following the indictment, which is not yet final, the Koper District Court ordered two weeks ago that Racman be detained, but the Slovenian police have not been able to locate him, putting him on a list of wanted persons.

The police issued last Wednesday an internal arrest warrant and a European arrest warrant against Racman, which was entered in the Schengen information system.

The warrants were followed by Interpol issuing yesterday a red notice, a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest Racman.

According to the media, the suspects from the prostitution ring are accused of exploiting a total of 413 girls, mostly from Romania, Ukraine, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, for prostitution in the Marina Sauna Club near Nova Gorica.

Between August 2014 and January this year around 150,000 men visited the club, paying an entrance fee of 60 to 85 euros. A total of EUR 21 million in illegal gains are believed to have been made in the process.

The prosecution claims the ring was led by entrepreneurs Jože Kojc, Dejan Šurbek and Racman, who jointly own the Marina Sauna Club. Šurbek and Racman have been in custody since 23 January, while Racman is still at large.

The media reported that Racman, who has officially been living in Slovakia since 2013, is away on business in Canada.

Slovenia is looking for another six persons through Interpol.

Other stories on this case can be found here, while Interpol's related page is here

STA, 31 July 2019 - The police apprehended on Tuesday a Serbian citizen who was transporting six Turkish Kurds who had entered Slovenia illegally. He was caught only after a chase, during which he caused a traffic accident in Ormož (NE).

As the initial attempt by the police to stop the vehicle failed, the police started following it, with the chase lasting some ten minutes.

Running away from the police, the Serb caused a traffic accident at a roundabout in Ormož, the Maribor Police Department said on Wednesday.

A criminal complaint will be filed against the driver, while the illegal migrants from Turkey will be returned to Croatia.

According to the General Police Administration, a total of 2,018 traffickers in human beings have been apprehended in Slovenia since the beginning of 2018, including 175 foreigners.

Between 1 January and 22 July this year, the Slovenian police have apprehended 188 such traffickers, including 168 foreigners. Detention has been ordered for 156 of them.

STA, 25 July - Slovenia has been seeing a spike in illegal migration in recent months, but while most of the migrants are being returned to Croatia, the smugglers who helped them across the border are filling up Slovenian prisons.

A report by the news web site of the public broadcaster rtvslo.si cites official data showing that foreigners account for nearly a quarter of Slovenia's prison population. Half of them have been incarcerated for smuggling migrants.

There are currently 323 foreign citizens in Slovenian correction facilities, 177 of them in custody, Prison Administration data show. "Out of 323 foreign citizens, 176 are in prison or in custody on suspicion of organising illegal crossings across the border."

Smuggling of migrants carries up to five years in prison and a fine, while those who make money by facilitating illegal entry of migrants into the country face sentences of up to eight in years in prison.

Slovenian police apprehended more than 200 illegal migrants only last weekend, 122 of them at several small camps in the woods where someone appeared to have left bags with food and basic necessities for them.

Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar commented that this was a case of organised smuggling of migrants, committed both by individuals and smuggling rings.

There are no official statistics on the number of smugglers apprehended, but the General Police Administration told rtvslo.si that they had apprehended 153 smugglers of migrants last year, and as many as 132 by the end of July this year already.

The apprehended smugglers are as a rule remanded in custody, worsening the cramped conditions at Slovenian prison facilities. The capacities are most overcrowded at the prisons in Koper and Novo Mesto, at 128% and 126% capacity utilisation rates.

Foreign prisoners come from 46 countries, while there is also one whose nationality is unknown.

Interior Ministry data show that 1,802 migrants applied for international protection in Slovenia in the first half of the year, which compares to 2,875 the whole last year. Forty have been granted asylum this year and 102 last year.

A total of 680 people who have been granted international protection are living in the country at the moment. Between 1995 and the end of 2018, the status was granted to 818 third country citizens.

All our stories on human trafficking are here, those on illegal migration are here, and those on prison are here

STA, 24 July 2019 - The Specialised State Prosecution has filed an indictment against 18 persons in connection with a prostitution ring that was operating near Nova Gorica and was cracked by police in January. The prime suspect is said to be businessmen Sergej Racman, the former owner of the cinema chain operator Kolosej.

The indictment comes after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in January it completed a four-year investigation into prostitution, human trafficking and drug abuse in the areas of Nova Gorica and Maribor.

According to Wednesday's report by the newspaper Večer, 413 girls, mostly from Romania, Ukraine, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, had been abused for prostitution in the Marina Sauna Club near Nova Gorica.

Between August 2014 and January this year around 150,000 men visited the club, paying an entrance fee of 60 to 85 euros. A total of EUR 21 million in illegal gains are believed to have made in the process.

The prosecution claims the ring was led by entrepreneurs Jože Kojc, Dejan Šurbek and Racman, with the latter still being at large despite having a detention warrant issued against him.

Siol.net reported that Racman is unofficially away on business abroad. He has officially been living in Slovakia since 2013. An international arrest warrant has not yet been issued.

Prostitution was decriminalised in Slovenia 2003, but only for those providing the services voluntarily, without procurement and coercion.

NBI deputy director David Antolovič told the press in January that "the suspects controlled the victims at all times and set the price of their sexual services". If they failed to obey, they were barred from the premises, he said.

The abuse of prostitution carries a prison sentence of three to 15 years, human trafficking three to 12 years and drug trafficking one to 10 years.

Other stories on this case can be found here

STA, 25 January 2019 - The prostitution ring dismantled by Slovenian police two days ago was led by two Slovenian citizens and is estimated to have made at least EUR 14m from the illegal business, a police official said on Friday.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has led the investigation into prostitution, human trafficking and drug abuse from September 2014 in the areas of Nova Gorica, west, and Maribor, north-east, NBI deputy director David Antolovič said at a news conference in Ljubljana.

At least 300 women have been offering sexual services since then in a hotel with a spa in the area of Nova Gorica. They all came from abroad, mostly from Romania, Ukraine, Albania and the area of the former Yugoslavia.

The police investigation has found that the ring with at least 14 identified members was led by a 50-year-old and a 35-year-old from the area of Maribor. "The ring was hierarchically organised, with roles being clearly assigned," said Antolovič.

The suspects had renovated a building near Nova Gorica, which was advertised as a sauna, spa and wellness with a touch of eroticism, which was a cover for abusing women for prostitution under a set of strictly defined rules.

Only men were allowed to enter the hotel, for which they were charged an entrance fee of 60 to 85 euro. Women could be there only as prostitutes; to get to the hotel, they had to book an appointment online, and pay an entrance fee of 70 euro.

"The suspects controlled the victims all the time and set the price of their sexual services," said Antolovič, noting the victims were "totally subdued".

If they failed to obey, they were barred from the premises, he said adding they had opted for prostitution convinced this was the only way in which they could make a living.

Eight suspects were detained on Wednesday, with six remaining in custody, including the ring leader. They were to be brought before an investigating judge today.

They are suspected of eleven counts of abuse of prostitution, human trafficking, and illegal production and sale of drugs.

Under Slovenia's penal code, abuse of prostitution is a crime which carries a prison sentence of three to 15 years, human trafficking three to twelve years, and drug production and sale from one to ten years.

According to Antolovič, "the investigation was very demanding, because the suspects were very well organised and consistent in hiding the abuse".

"It was difficult to gather evidence because they had invested a lot of effort and money into trying to show they were engaged in a legal business."

This is one of the largest cases of prostitution ever discovered in Slovenia, where prostitution is decriminalised.

However, it is a crime to exploit or abuse sex workers, which is often linked to human trafficking.

Slovenia is a destination country in human trafficking, and the victims are most often exploited at night clubs or apartments rented by criminal rings.

STA, 29 December 2018 - Three years after house searches at three night clubs in Nova Gorica and Sežana, eight defendants were handed down prison sentences for coercing women into prostitution, the newspaper Primorske Novice reported on Saturday.

The sentences, pronounced by the Koper District Court on Friday, range from three and a half years in prison to suspended sentences, but are not final yet.

The court found the defendants guilty of abusing at least ten women, mostly from Ukraine, for prostitution, whereas the prosecution spoke of 70.

Iryna Uršič as ring leader was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, her aides Iryna Ahaponova and Maria Fedotova to two years and to 18 months in prison, respectively.

Uršič and Fedotova had been in detention until March 2017, when the trial started.

The other five defendants, of whom two men, received suspended sentences.

Uršič will also have to pay a fine of 8,850 euros and return almost 81,000 euros in illegal gain, whereas the company Euromega was fined almost 60,000 euros.

The defendants can lodge an appeal against the sentences, with Uršič announcing it even before the verdicts were delivered.

In May 2016, the Specialised Prosecution Office filed changes of human trafficking against 12 persons and two companies, but later changed them to the crime of abuse for the purpose of prostitution, dropping them against two suspects, while one died and one pleaded guilty.

Related: Report Finds Some Progress on Human Trafficking in Slovenia

STA, 29 November 2018 - All seven suspects charged with running illegal call centres operated by trafficked Taiwanese citizens pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking at a pre-trial hearing at the Maribor District Court on Thursday.

The three Slovenians and four citizens of Taiwan are suspected of unlawfully detaining at least 63 people, mostly citizens of Taiwan, in several underground call centres in Slovenia and Croatia.

Six of the seven defendants remain in custody due to flight risk.

The trial is the result of a police sting in January. The subsequent investigation revealed that the call centres had been operated since November 2015. Illegal proceeds are estimated at EUR 370,000.

Related: China calls on Slovenia to surrender Taiwanese detained in phone scam

The prosecutor offered plea bargains in exchange for prison sentences of just over three years plus the confiscation of proceeds from crime. The foreign citizens would also be banned from entering Slovenia for five years after they have served time.

The trial is likely to drag on considering the large number of defendants and language barriers.

It hit a snag right at the start, when one of the Taiwanese suspects demanded an interpreter for Taiwanese Mandarin claiming that he did not understand classic Mandarin well enough.

The attorneys for two suspects also demanded exclusion of certain evidence that they claim had been unlawfully acquired in China and Taiwan.

The hearings will continue within 14 days.

The trial comes after more than a dozen house searches were conducted in Ljubljana and Maribor in late January looking into illegal call centres used to perpetrate phone fraud in China. The investigation revealed the call centres were linked with trafficking.

The house searches produced shocking revelations, as 32 victims of trafficking, most of them Taiwanese nationals, were found working in abysmal conditions.

The victims of trafficking were locked up into houses that doubled as call centres and accommodation, they were stripped of their documents, telephones and money, and ordered to perpetrate phone fraud.

They were not allowed to leave the houses even if they wanted to return home. If they did not obey the rules, they were physically and psychologically abused.

The investigation has also revealed the Slovenian handlers worked on instruction from a Taiwanese ringleader who occasionally came to Slovenia but was operating out of Taiwan.