8 UAE Princesses on trial in Brussels
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Eight Arab princesses are on trial in Brussels for trafficking and abusing servants during a stay there.
Sheikha Hamda al-Nahyan and her seven daughters hired a floor of rooms at a luxury hotel over eight months in 2008.
They brought with them from the United Arab Emirates a retinue of more than 20 servants whom they are accused of holding in conditions close to slavery.
The plaintiffs say they were prevented from leaving the hotel and forced to eat the princesses' leftovers.
The princesses are being tried in absentia along with an Indian butler.
If found guilty, they could face hundreds of thousands of euros in damages and even a prison sentence - but rights activists say it is highly unlikely that the UAE would extradite them to serve time behind bars.
Nonetheless, it would be "hugely significant" if one of the wealthiest families in the world was publicly linked with trafficking and slavery, says Nicholas McGeehan, an expert on migrant workers in the Gulf for Human Rights Watch.
He argues that despite being abolished in law, domestic slavery continues in Gulf states - "perpetuated by ruling elites for whom it serves an important societal purpose in conferring status".
He added: "It's top-down and tolerated."
The princesses deny the charges, and the BBC has contacted their defence for comment.
