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A french court sentenced this Wednesday 15 people tried for a plot to introduce horse meat unfit for human consumption on the market, with sentences of up to two years in prison.
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The defendants – French, Belgian and Dutch industry professionals – were accused of violating European health rules on the horse meat trade and for falsifying documents between 2010 and 2015.
Prosecutors charged the defendants with fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud and with deceiving consumers and endangering their health.
The trial, which began in the southern French city of Marseille in June, is the biggest scandal involving horse meat since 2013, when millions of ready meals were recalled across Europe after discovering they contained traces of equine products when they were labeled as beef.
The main defendant, Belgian merchant Jean-Marc Decker, 58, was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended, and a fine of 100,000 euros. He is also banned from working in the sector for five years.
“This case exposed a structure that allowed the sale of large numbers of horses that were excluded from the food chain,” said Celine Ballerini, president of the correctional court.
The Dutch trader Stijn De Visscher received the same sentence with a fine of 75,000 euros.
The manager of the wholesaler Equi’d Sud, Georges Gonzales, was sentenced to one year in prison with a three-year suspended sentence, a fine and a five-year ban on working in the sector.
Of the 18 defendants, 12 received light sentences and three were acquitted.
This verdict will come a few days after the start of another process, also in Marseille, in which there are 25 people accused of introducing horses from a pharmaceutical farm into the food chain.
Source: Elcomercio
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