Three arrested in Georgia on charges of trafficking their own minor children

Georgia's Interior Ministry has arrested three individuals on charges of trafficking minors, following a joint operation by the Central Criminal Police Department and the Prosecutor General's Office.

Speaking at a briefing, Grigol Gogochashvili, Head of the Anti-Trafficking and Illegal Migration Division of the Central Criminal Police Department, said the suspects include both Georgian and foreign nationals.

According to the investigation, the suspects devised a trafficking scheme for financial gain that involved exploiting their own minor children.

Investigators said the children were subjected to psychological abuse and forced to beg and sell flowers in tourist areas and other public locations in the Black Sea city of Batumi. The suspects allegedly confiscated all money collected by the children.

The Interior Ministry said investigators obtained multiple pieces of evidence through covert investigative measures conducted under a court order.

The child victims have been placed in state care facilities and are currently not considered to be at risk, the Ministry added.

The offence carries a prison sentence of up to 17 years.