EU opens new probe in Kosovo organ trafficking case
(PRISTINA) - A European Union prosecutor has opened a new probe into the human organ trafficking case in which five doctors were convicted of harvesting and selling kidneys at a Pristina clinic, an EU statement said Tuesday.
Eight people were "being investigated for the criminal offences of organised crime, trafficking in persons, grievous bodily harm, abusing official position of authority, fraud and trading in influence," the EU's Pristina mission said, without revealing their identity.
An EU-led court in Kosovo sentenced on Monday prominent Pristina urologist Lutfi Dervishi and his son Arban to 8 and 7 years and three months respectively for "organised crime and human trafficking."
The three other defendants received terms of one to three years in a case in which around 30 illegal kidney removals and transplants had been carried out at the Medicus clinic in Pristina in 2008.
The donors were recruited from poor eastern European and Central Asian countries and promised about 15,000 euros ($20,000) for their organs. The recipients, mainly Israelis, would pay up to 100,000 euros each.
The EU mission (EULEX) said the new probe "is based upon investigations carried out in the Medicus case, as well as further findings during the trial phase."
EULEX is set up to help the local judiciary handle sensitive cases after the territory declared independence from Serbia in 2008.