Kosovo medics accused of trafficking kidneys

EU prosecutors have accused seven people, including doctors and a health official, of trafficking kidneys through a clinic in Kosovo.

International trafficking allegedly took place in 2008 at the Medicus clinic in the capital, Pristina.

Kidney "donors" and recipients were of different nationalities, prosecutors said in a press release.

The prosecutors form part of the EU's law and order mission, Eulex, in the breakaway Serbian province.

Interpol arrest warrants in connection with the case have also been issued for a Turkish and an Israeli national. Names and other details of the case are due to be made public at the end of this month. ...

The suspects are accused of trafficking in human organs, organised crime, unlawful exercise of medical activities and abusing official authority

Donors were promised up to 14,500 euros (£12,300, $19,900) while recipients were required to pay between 80,000 and 100,000 euros. ... Donors came from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey and lived in "extreme poverty or acute financial distress". ... A Kosovan surgeon is accused of leading the criminal group. ...

Kosovo has been haunted by another alleged case of organ-trafficking dating back to the war in 1999.

In that case, which has never been proven, Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) militants allegedly trafficked the organs of Serb captives they later killed.

via BBC News - Kosovo medics accused of trafficking kidneys.