Kosovans ‘part of organ trade’

A PROSECUTOR charged in court yesterday that seven Kosovans on trial in Pristina were part of an elaborate international network that traded in the organs of people living in extreme poverty.

European Union prosecutor Jonathan Ratel told the crowded Pristina District Court that the men, including a former senior Health Ministry official, promised poor people from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey up to €14,500 for their organs.

Those who received the organs paid between €80,000-100,000 for them, Ratel said. The victims, however, were never paid, he said.

The prosecutor, who serves in Kosovo as part of the EU’s rule of law mission, alleged that what he called an organ-harvesting ring recruited about 20 foreign nationals with false promises of payments in 2008.

The seven men have pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from trafficking in persons to unlawful practices of medicine and abuse of power.

Yesterday’s session was adjourned until January 6 to give the prosecution more time to provide additional documents.