The trial of seven Kosovars accused of participating in an international organ trafficking ring opened recently. The suspects are accused of luring people from formerly Communist countries to the Kosovo capital, Pristina, with false promises of payments up to €15,000 (US$20,000). The indictment states that the recipients bought the organs for between €80,000 and €100,000. 

“The black market in the removal and illegal transplant of human organs to others for the sole purpose of profit is an exploitation of the human condition in its most basic form,” said the prosecutor, Jonathan Ratel. “It is the cruel harvest of the human person.”

The 7 defendants are affiliated with the private Medicus clinic in a run-down Pristina neighbourhood. Five are medical personnel, one is the owner’s son, who ran the clinic, and another is a senior Kosovo Health Ministry official, who is charged with issuing an unlawful “invitation letter” to the victims. The 7 have been charged with organised crime, trafficking in persons, abuse of office and unlawful exercise of medical activity.

The prosecution said the Medicus case is part of a “much larger organization engaged in the trafficking of humans and the removal and transplant of human organs for sale in several countries.” ~ New York Times, Oct 4