Bangladesh, Aug. 21 -- On August 19, the Lapland District Court in Rovaniemi opened what officials have described as the largest human trafficking trial in Finlands history. At the center of the proceedings is Polarica Marjahankinta, one of the countrys leading berry companies, along with its former CEO, Jukka Kristo, and Thai business partner Kalyakorn “Durian” Phongphit. Together, they face 78 charges of aggravated human trafficking, each tied to an individual Thai worker allegedly exploited under abusive labor conditions in 2022.

The case is unprecedented not only in scale but also in its potential to reshape Finlands seasonal labor industry, which relies heavily on thousands of migrant workers, many of them from Thailand....