Court Denies Bail to Woman Accused of Trafficking Children

11 June 2019

Tbilisi City Court has denied Yulia Suslyak, a Ukrainian woman accused of trafficking children, bail.

Yulia Suslyak was arrested in Kutaisi in April with 10 children under her care four of whom were born in the same year, sparking suspicion of human trafficking.

Tests showed that Suslyak was the biological mother of four of the children, whilst her husband was the father of all 10 children.

Georgian and Ukrainian authorities have said that they need to study obscurities in the case. It is unknown why the family was traveling and what happened to an eleventh child, who is thought to have died in Russia.

Suslyak’s lawyer has maintained that she is innocent and “there is no evidence confirming her fault.” They claim that for of the children were born via a surrogate.

The children returned to Ukraine last week on June where they are now under the care of their grandparents and the authorities.