December 20, 2024
Activists report release of man from labor slavery in Baksan
Volunteers of the Alternative movement managed to free a man from labor slavery in Baksan, who had been held by a gypsy family for about four months. Labor slavery is not typical for Kabardino-Balkaria and only isolated cases are observed, analysts believe.
Slaves in the North Caucasus are a cheap labor force, which is lured mainly by deception, and in fact a commodity that can be bought and sold, as indicated in the ” Caucasian Knot ” reference ” Slavery in the North Caucasus “.
A man freed from labor slavery in Kabardino-Balkaria is safe, Arina, an activist with the anti-slavery movement Alternative, told the Caucasian Knot.
“Vladimir is currently staying with his grandmother, who, one might say, saved her grandson. For security reasons, I cannot say what city they are in. But he is fine, and has no complaints about his health in general. The problem is that he still does not remember much. For example, how he ended up with this gypsy family, where he spent about four months,” she told a ” Caucasian Knot ” correspondent.
40-year-old Vladimir disappeared without a trace in the Ryazan region, his grandmother contacted the “Alternative”. She said that after some time, after an unsuccessful search, her grandson called her from someone else’s number and explained that he was working for a gypsy family in Baksan, but did not remember how he got there. Vladimir ended up there without documents, money or means of communication. He was given a room, and his job was loading metal. According to Vladimir, he was not physically abused, but he was afraid to leave. He also said that he had never had any memory problems before. Volunteers managed to free Vladimir, the “Alternative” movement reported on its Telegram channel.
According to Arina, Vladimir’s case is typical not only for the North Caucasus, but for Russia as a whole.
“This case is typical first of all in that all our released people always have memory problems, they do not remember everything that happened to them and how. In this regard, all cases are similar to each other. As for other circumstances, they also resemble other stories of labor slavery, when they find themselves in a place that is incomprehensible to them, without any documents and without understanding what happened, how they ended up there. It is good that Vladimir remembered his grandmother’s number and was able to contact her,” she noted.
Vladimir’s release was not without certain difficulties. “I can’t reveal all the details, but it wasn’t easy. But everything ended well and he was taken to a safe place, and from there he was sent to his grandmother,” she said.
The Roma family that held Vladimir could be punished under the article for “Using slave labor,” says lawyer Zaur Shokuev .
“The punishment for this crime is provided for by Article 127.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “Use of slave labor,” which consists of three parts depending on the circumstances and the severity of the crime. And the most lenient punishment for using slave labor is up to five years of forced labor or imprisonment for the same term,” he told the “Caucasian Knot.”
According to him, the case of labor slavery in the KBR is not typical. “Of course, this outrageous case is most likely an exception. We have never received complaints of this nature. Mass cases of the use of slave labor cannot be hidden from the attention of the media, the public, and law enforcement agencies,” he noted.
Activist from Kabardino-Balkaria Martin Kochesoko * also notes that this case is rather an exception.
“It seems to me that this is more of an exception for the KBR than a common practice. I have not heard anything about labor slavery in Kabardino-Balkaria during all this time, because among the Circassians, the Balkars, and in general in the society of Kabardino-Balkaria, such actions will be condemned first and foremost by the closest people, and few will dare to do such a thing,” he told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.
According to him, this is facilitated not only by legislation, but also by the local mentality. “Such issues are regulated not only by law, but also by the mentality and public opinion in general among the indigenous peoples of the republic. And now I am talking specifically about the KBR, because there are many peoples in the Caucasus, and although we are geographically close and have a lot in common, we are different in culture and mentality,” he said.
” Caucasian Knot ” previously wrote that Andrei Kupreenko, who was put on the wanted list in Belarus in 2007, was rescued from labor slavery in the North Caucasus 14 years later, in 2021. His last employer in Kabardino-Balkaria did not want to let him go and kept his passport , Kupreenko himself explained then.
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Author: Roman Kuzhev
source: “Caucasian Knot” correspondent
https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/406831
