Court hands down sentences on prostitution ring

Sentences of up to nine years in prison were given out on Thursday by a regional court in České Budějovice to a 17-strong gang which supplied Czech women for prostitution in Norway. The trial of the gang, 10 men and seven women who mostly came from around Písek and Prachatice, began in October following investigations which also involved Danish and Norwegian police forces. The prosecution said the gang supplied dozens of women, in one case a girl aged under 18, to Norwegian clients. Drugs were used to help keep the women obedient, the court heard.