TDT | Manama
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Appeal court upholds three-month sentence over threats used to obtain false wage acknowledgements
An appeals court has acquitted the owner of a transactions processing office of human trafficking charges but upheld his conviction for forcing a foreign employee to sign documents falsely confirming receipt of his wages.
The court sentenced the employer to three months in prison for obtaining the signatures through threats.
The worker alleged that his working hours were extended, his weekly day off was denied, his salary was withheld for three months and he was assigned duties outside his job. He also claimed the employer threatened to cancel his residency and terminate his employment.
The Court of First Instance had sentenced the defendant to three years in prison, fined him BD2,000 and ordered him to cover the worker’s repatriation costs.
The Court of Appeal overturned that ruling, acquitting him of the trafficking-related charges and convicting him only of obtaining the salary receipt declarations through threats.
