The assets of the defendants in the high-profile sex trafficking case were unfrozen
STA, July 20 – The Koper District Court was no longer allowed to extend the temporary insurance of a property claim in the case of prostitution and human trafficking, known as Marina. The assets of the four main suspects were unfrozen on Saturday and they can now dispose of them freely again, reports the newspaper Večer.
Three years after the indictment was filed, the criminal proceedings against Sergej Racman, Dejan Šurbek and Vesna Trnovec are still ongoing, which is why the court was forced to unfreeze their personal and business assets, Večer reported on Tuesday.
With the prostitution group in the Sauna club Marina near Nova Gorica and the abuse of around 400 women, mostly from Romania, Ukraine, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, they are said to have obtained at least 21 million euros in illegal financial gains from 2014 to 2020, which they had to serve around 150,000 male guests, prosecutors say.
According to the newspaper, the court orders the temporary security of a request for confiscation of property when there is reason to believe that the suspect will use the illegally acquired property to continue criminal activity or that he will hide, steal, destroy or otherwise use said property to obstruct criminal proceedings and confiscation pecuniary benefits when legal proceedings are concluded.
As of September 2021, the Koper District Court also received a bail of 800,000 euros, which was paid for the release of the prime suspect, businessman Sergej Racman, from custody.
All four defendants claim that the Marina was an erotic club that provided an intimate atmosphere, but that no one was forced into prostitution.
Prostitution was decriminalized in Slovenia in 2003, but only for those who provide services voluntarily, without solicitation or coercion.