Slaves allegedly locked inside cupboards
Two Colombian nationals have fronted court on slavery charges, with the pair accused of snatching the passports of victims and abusing them across different jurisdictions in NSW and South Australia.
Beatriz Odalis Brancho Gonzalez and Cristhian David Diaz Suarez both returned to Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday following their arrests by Australian Federal Police in late 2024. The duo are accused of keeping their victims in servitude and subjecting them to 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' over eight years.
Ms Gonzalez and Mr Diaz Suarez were living at the same Kilburn house in Adelaide's north at the time of the alleged offending and it is expected their cases will be merged.
Tuesday's hearing, however, revealed divergent trajectories in their respective cases. Colombian national Beatriz Brancho Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty to the allegations against her. Picture Mark Brake Credit: News Corp Australia
Ms Gonzalez appeared in the dock before magistrate Lynette Duncan and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, specifically two counts of causing a person to enter into debt bondage, two counts of deceptive recruiting for labour or services and two counts of causing a person to enter into and remain in servitude.
Her alleged offending took place between February 2016 and May 2024 in the Sydney suburbs of Ultimo, Darlinghurst, Blacktown and Baulkham Hills and the Adelaide suburbs of Seaford, Magill and Kilburn.
Commonwealth prosecutor Craig Dand initially asked Ms Duncan for an eight-week adjournment, noting the AFP still needed to submit a forensic accounting report on the alleged enslavement alongside witness statements, Home Affairs records and translations of text messages between the pair from Spanish to English.
But Ms Gonzalez's defence lawyer told the court that his client was ready to enter her pleas with the information already provided.
The 35-year-old, dressed in tracksuit pants and a jumper, is on bail and left the court following her pleas.
She will next appear at the higher District Court for her trial on September 9.
The AFP arrested Ms Gonzalez in December last year, one month after Mr Diaz Suarez's arrest.
'It will be alleged in court that the woman was involved in the ongoing and degrading treatment of other residents also living at the property,' the AFP have said. Police arrested Cristhian Diaz Suarez in November 2024 at his Kilburn home in Adelaide's north. AFP Credit: Supplied
'This alleged treatment included maintaining daily control of the victims by tracking their movements, restricting daily activities, scheduling compulsory daily chores, controlling earnings and forcing victims to pay off debts that were unreasonably enforced.
'These allegations relate to a number of individuals who migrated to Adelaide from Venezuela in 2015 and 2016, with the offences allegedly taking place over a prolonged period at the Kilburn home and elsewhere in Australia.'
Mr Diaz Suarez, on remand, appeared before the court a short time later via videolink. Mr Dand again applied for an eight-week adjournment to account for additional material in the case.
Mr Diaz Suarez's defence counsel asked Ms Duncan to dismiss the charges, but the magistrate declined the request and listed August 6 for the new answer charge date.
Following his arrest in November, the AFP claimed Mr Diaz Suarez helped members of a youth group he formerly led in Venezuela migrate to Australia in 2015 and then stole their passports and pushed them into servitude.
'The man allegedly maintained daily control of the victims by tracking their movements, restricting daily activity, scheduling compulsory daily chores, controlling earnings and forcing victims to pay off debts that were unreasonably enforced,' the AFP stated.
The police also allege he isolated the victims from family and friends, restricted and oversaw their communications and private messages to loved ones and locked them inside cupboards for days on several occasions.
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