Court rejects appeal of couple convicted of enslaving worker

A Jerusalem court rejected an appeal this week to overturn the conviction of an East Jerusalem couple found guilty of enslaving a worker from the Philippines who was employed in their home for almost two years.

In 2012, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Ibrahim and Basmah Julani from Shuafat, for keeping Mary Ann Pawig under slavery conditions for 22 months, confiscating her passport and cellphone and barring her from leaving the house. Pawig, according to the charge, worked 10-hour days in the home for $150 a month, and was denied days off and vacations.

Phone calls to her family were also kept to a minimum and tightly monitored by the couple.

It was the first conviction for slavery in Israel.

During the trial, details of the case emerged including that Pawig slept in a folding bed in a bathroom, and that when the Julanis left for vacation. Pawig was locked in the house.

She escaped with help from a Jerusalem activist who assists foreign workers, and reported her captors to Israeli authorities.

During the appeal, the couple’s attorneys argued that the minimal salary Pawig received was warranted because it was more than what she would have earned in her home country — an argument thrown out by the court.

The couple’s punishment was four months’ community service, a suspended sentence of 6 months for a duration of three years, a fine of NIS 2,000 each and compensation of NIS 15,000 for the victim.

The maximum sentence for slavery in Israel is 16 years imprisonment.

According to the website of the Filipino embassy, approximately 31,000 Filipinos work in Israel, mostly as caregivers.