A brothel owner from the northwestern city of Solothurn has been sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for human trafficking and pimping.

Four of his accomplices were handed down suspended sentences by the federal criminal court in Bellinzona.

Of these, one woman from Cape Verde and two from Brazil who had helped run the brothel received suspended terms of 22, 18 and 15 months respectively.

The other, a 63 year old Swiss man, regarded as a friend of the brothel owner, was found not guilty of human trafficking but convicted on a minor money laundering charge. He was given a suspended fine.

The main accused was additionally found guilty of violating the law on drugs and the residency law for foreigners, as well as money laundering.

He and the accomplice from Cape Verde also have to pay up to SFr33,000 ($36,250) in damages and up to SFr12,000 in compensation to nine private plaintiffs.

He had brought young Brazilian women to Switzerland, and then forced them to work for him to pay back the cost of their journey.

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