As Chinese Investment Expands, Serbia Records First Trafficking Conviction Involving Chinese Nationals

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/7132100

A Serbian court has convicted a Chinese citizen of human trafficking for the first time, sentencing him to prison as authorities report a rise in reported trafficking cases involving Chinese nationals amid deepening economic ties between Belgrade and Beijing.

Court documents ... show that a 52-year-old Chinese citizen was sentenced to four years in prison for trafficking two Chinese women. According to the sealed ruling, finalized in late 2025, the women were forced to provide sexual services to Chinese men under threats of death.

"The verdict is only the final step," Zoran Pasalic, Serbia's ombudsman and national rapporteur on human trafficking, [said]. "The key question is what conditions allowed this to happen, and whether others were involved."

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The verdict was welcomed by ASTRA, an NGO that supports victims of human trafficking.

"The fact that both the perpetrator and the victims are foreign nationals, in this case Chinese, further confirms that the court did not allow identity or citizenship to be used as an excuse to relativize the crime," Marija Andelkovic, the organization's director, said.

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