After nearly seven years of investigations, legal proceedings and speculation, one of the most signifi cant criminal cases ever linked to the Saanenland has reached its fi rst conclusion. The Regional Court of Bernese Oberland has convicted three members of a Serbian family for human traffi cking and related offences, ruling that they systematically exploited women recruited from Serbia to work in Gstaad and Saanen.

The case began in 2019 following an anonymous tip-off and quickly attracted national attention.
Prosecutors alleged that between 2014 and 2020, around forty Serbian women had been brought to Switzerland without work permits and placed in jobs as cleaners, housekeepers and childcare assistants in private chalets, holiday properties and hotels throughout the region. The women were said to have worked exceptionally long hours, often seven days a week, for monthly wages of around CHF 1,200 to CHF 1,500.

According to the court, the women were recruited in Serbia with promises of legal employment before being transported to the Saanenland, where members of the family arranged accommodation, assigned work and paid their wages. Meanwhile, the organisers received between CHF 4,000 and CHF 5,000 per worker each month from property agencies and chalet owners for providing cleaning and domestic services.

The Regional Court concluded that the family had systematically profited from exploiting the workers over several years.

The principal defendant, a 68-year-old Serbian national, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, a suspended financial penalty and an eleven-year ban from entering Switzerland. Her daughter, who holds dual Serbian and Swiss nationality, received a prison sentence of three years and nine months after being convicted of human trafficking in seven cases, in addition to financial penalties. The woman's husband was convicted of aiding and abetting human trafficking and sentenced to 28 months' imprisonment, most of which was suspended after taking his pre-trial detention into account.

Although the convictions were significant, the sentences were considerably lower than those sought by the prosecution, which had requested prison terms ranging from nine-and-a-half to twelve-and-a-half years. During the trial, defence lawyers argued that the women had travelled to Switzerland voluntarily, knew they lacked work permits, and often returned for multiple seasons because they earned substantially more than they could at home. They denied that the legal threshold for human trafficking had been met and criticised the police investigation, claiming procedural shortcomings and overly aggressive investigative methods.

The judges ultimately agreed that exploitation had occurred but also identified weaknesses in the investigation. They criticised the unusually lengthy proceedings, which stretched over several years, and noted that certain police interviews had not followed the required legal procedures. The court further observed that media coverage had, to some extent, contributed to the defendants being publicly judged before the trial concluded. These factors were considered when determining the sentences.

The hearings also highlighted how difficult such cases are to prosecute. While the indictment listed forty alleged victims, only two women ultimately agreed to testify in court. Many declined to participate or withdrew from the proceedings, reportedly fearing repercussions. Prosecutors instead relied heavily on mobile phone messages, financial records and other documentary evidence gathered during the investigation.

Despite the convictions, the trial left a number of questions unanswered. During the proceedings, it emerged that the women had worked in luxury chalets managed through local agencies as well as in private homes. However, the court did not examine whether property managers or chalet owners knew the conditions under which the workers had been employed. Although several agencies and properties were named in the indictment, no findings were made regarding their knowledge or legal responsibility.

In delivering the judgment, Presiding Judge Jan Grunder stressed that the exploitation of labour is "not a trivial offence". At the same time, he described this as a medium-severity case of human trafficking, noting that the women had not been physically confined and had received wages, albeit well below normal standards. He nevertheless concluded that the defendants had knowingly built a profitable business by exploiting vulnerable workers over many years.

The case is unlikely to end here. As the defence had sought full acquittals throughout the proceedings, appeals are widely expected, meaning the final legal chapter may still be some years away. For now, however, the Regional Court's judgment marks a significant moment, confirming that labour exploitation can occur even in one of Switzerland's most affluent regions – and that such offences carry serious criminal consequences.

BASED ON AVS / JW