The Lapland District Court has ruled in favor of Thai berry pickers exploited in Finland, sentencing two executives of the berry company Kiantama to prison for aggravated human trafficking, writes Yle.fiCEO Vernu Vasunta received a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for 62 counts of aggravated human trafficking, while the company’s Thai coordinator, Kalyakorn “Durian” Phongphit, was handed a three-year sentence. The court found that Thai berry pickers had been trapped in debt before even starting work, having been overcharged for flights, visas, and food. Once in Finland, they faced conditions that the court concluded amounted to human trafficking. The case marks a significant victory for the Thai pickers, whose testimony revealed how they were systematically exploited while harvesting berries in Finland. The verdict will probably be appealed, says Vaunta’s attorney, Tomi Tanskanen, to Yle.fi