Trafficking convict appeals sentence

Lin Yu-shin, general manager of Giant Ocean International, covers her face as she leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court in 2014. Sreng Meng Srun

20 Jul, 2017 Kim Sarom

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A Taiwanese woman convicted of trafficking hundreds of Cambodians into slave-like conditions on fishing boats yesterday appealed her 10-year sentence at the Supreme Court, while her victims pressed for more compensation money.

Lin Yu-shin, the 52-year-old former manager of the now-defunct Giant Ocean International recruitment firm, was found guilty in 2014 along with five accomplices, who have remained at large as she has served her sentence in a Siem Reap prison.

One of Yu-shin’s victims, Ther Bora, 34, recounted how he applied to work in Japan for the fishing company in June 2010, but he was instead sent to Fiji.

Victims of the scam recruitment firm Giant Ocean International stand in the Supreme Court complex yesterday in Phnom Penh. Photo supplied

After working for a month on the vessel, Bora requested his salary, only to be told three years’ worth of his wages had already been paid to Yu-shin.

He remained enslaved for more than 18 months, until the ship docked and he sought assistance from an embassy in Fiji.

“My brother and I were forced to fish almost 24 hours each day and we had only two or three hours to sleep,” Bora said. “I was sick, but the Chinese boss did not give me medicine.”

Another fisherman, Sun Sokha, said he had not received payment for the 23 months he worked.

“We were cheated by the company . . . so we demand the Ministry of Labour bring $100,000 to pay us,” he said, referring to money his lawyer said the company deposited with the government.

Yu-shin’s lawyer, Chhi Sambath, said his client had been unfairly punished, claiming she was not the owner of the company.

A verdict is due on July 26.