2 convicted of holding Filipina under slave conditions

24-year-old Filipina woman held in home and forbidden to leave for nearly two years.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
Prison jail generic (photo credit: Courtesy)
Prison jail generic
(photo credit: Courtesy)
In a precedent-setting ruling on Tuesday, the Jerusalem District Court convicted two people of the offense of holding another person under conditions of slavery.
Judges Jacob Zaban, Miriam Mizrachi and Raphael Carmel also found Ibrahim and Basma Julani guilty of confiscating the complainant’s passport.
According to the indictment, the Julanis, a married couple, had brought a 24- year-old Filipina woman to Israel via Jordan and held her at their home for a year and ten months. During that time, the woman was confined to the Julanis’ home and forbidden to leave or communicate with the outside world, including by telephone.
The Julanis took away her passport, and paid her around $150 a month for maid services.
The woman was forced to live in a tiny room with a shower and toilet. She was made to work most of the day without any vacations or time off, the indictment said.
After hearing the evidence, and reviewing domestic and international case law, the court found that the offenses met the legal definition of holding in slavery.
The penal code sets a maximum punishment of 16 years in prison for someone found guilty of keeping another person under conditions of slavery.