Tran Thi My Phuong was sentenced to 12 years in jail for human trafficking, said
presiding judge Tran Thi Hong Viet. Her Taiwanese husband Tsai I Hsein was
given seven years, and four others received five to 10 years at a one-day trial
Thursday, said presiding judge Tran Thi Hong Viet.
The ring members were convicted of trafficking 126 Vietnamese women to Malaysia
between April 2005 and June last year, she said.
Viet said the ring members had promised the victims, mostly from the
southwestern region, help finding husbands in Malaysia.
They were instead sold to a broker in Malaysia for US $1,500 (EU 1,100) to US
$2,000 (EU 1,500), depending on their age and beauty, she said.
The women were put on sale at bars in Malaysia for as much as US $6,300 (EU
4,600), she said, adding most potential buyers were elderly or disabled men.
More than 10 of the victims had managed to escape and return to Vietnam, and
reported the case to police, Viet said.
At the court, the defendants maintained that they just wanted to help the women
find husbands in Malaysia, but the court determined that their actions
constituted woman trafficking, a crime which carries a maximum jail term of 20
years.
Thousands of Vietnamese women have been sold to China and some Southeast Asian
nations for sex slaves and forced marriages.
