Fields of Terror

2010-01-24

BUCHAREST - 'The New Slave Trade in the Heart of Europe': poor people are being lured from Eastern Europe to the Czech Republic for forced labour. Some of the worst gangsters are now on trial but there is no sign of this evil trade coming to an end.

While pricey restaurants in Berlin or Amsterdam serve fresh asparagus plucked from fields in the Czech Republic, none of the appreciative diners has the slightest idea that this much-loved item is only on their dinner plates thanks to the backbreaking work carried out by modern-day slaves - men and women lured from poor countries on false pretences and then held captive - beaten and threatened by armed guards if they ask for food, their wages or try to escape.

Adrian Mogoş, Petru Zoltan, Doru Cobuz (Romania), Vitalie Călugăreanu (Moldova) and Vlad Lavrov (Ukraine) spent three months investigating the cultivation of asparagus in Romania, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Transnistria - a breakaway state from Moldova - Ukraine and The Netherlands. The research led them to a criminal network of Ukrainian-run gangs that recruited hundreds of people to work as slaves in Bohemia.

For this project, Romanian journalist Adrian Mogoş has won the CEI – SEEMO award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism.

Dutch follow-up "Modern Slavery" by Journeyman Pictures.

Team members

Adrian (Andi) Mogoş

Adrian Mogoş is a freelance journalist from Romania.

Petru Zoltan

Petru Zoltan is a Romanian investigative journalist with nearly two decades of experience.

Doru Cobuz

Doru Cobuz is a Romanian journalist, based in Denmark.

Supported

€4.180 granted on 26/05/2009

ECB/2009/05

Grant

European Cross-border Grants

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