Overview

• Three individuals, including Anavim head Svetlana Goumina, and two recruiters face human trafficking charges for supplying 57 migrants to the 2023 harvest.
• Prosecutors detailed how workers slept on inflatable mattresses in a dilapidated house and barn lacking sanitation and safety while being crammed into vans for ten-hour workdays at minimal or no pay.
• On June 20, the public prosecutor requested four years’ imprisonment (two of them firm) for Goumina, dissolution of Anavim, fines up to €200,000 for a partnering cooperative and travel bans for the recruiters.
• Civil parties such as the Comité Champagne, CGT Champagne, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme and Comité contre l’Esclavage Moderne have joined the case, seeking broader industry accountability.
• The trial has intensified calls for wine houses to include labor and housing standards in Champagne’s appellation rules to prevent future exploitation.