ABU DHABI (Dispatches) – Eight princesses from the United Arab Emirates have been convicted of human trafficking and given fines and suspended prison terms by a Belgian court.  
The Brussels criminal court handed the eight women -- a mother and her seven daughters -- from Abu Dhabi's ruling Al Nahyan family 15-month suspended sentences for human trafficking and degrading treatment of their servants, said the princesses' lawyer, Stephen Monod, in a statement.
"Belgian justice has appropriately assessed this case which has generated many misconceptions," he added.
Sheikha Hamda al-Nahyan and her daughters were accused of abusing more than 20 female servants, whom they had brought along while staying at the luxury Conrad Hotel in the Belgian capital for several months back in 2007 and 2008.
The royals from one of the most influential families in the UAE and one of the richest in the world faced accusations of "inhumane” treatment because they reportedly subjected their servants to pander to their desires for long stretches of time, sometimes lasting 24 hours a day, for little or no money.