Cruel Harvest: Exposed organ trafficking cashed in on poor & prisoners

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Moshe Harel, an Israeli citizen - listed as wanted by Interpol.
EU in Kosovo probes organ trafficking
PRISTINA, Kosovo – At least seven people, including a former senior health ministry official, have been charged with being part of an international network that falsely promised poor people payment for their kidneys and then sold the organs for as much as euro100,000 ($137,000), according to an indictment obtained by The Associated Press.

The indictment is the starkest revelation of the extent of organized crime in the country since Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

The organized criminal group trafficked people into Kosovo for the purpose of removing human organs for transplant, EU prosecutor Jonathan Ratel said in the indictment. Some 20 foreign nationals "were recruited with false promises of payments" in 2008, he wrote.

Victims were promised up to $20,000 (14,500 euros), while recipients were required to pay between euro80,000 and euro100,000 euros ($110,000-$137,000).

According to the indictment obtained by the AP on Thursday, the victims came from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey and lived in "extreme poverty or acute financial distress."

The EU prosecution has made requests to secure evidence from authorities in Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan and Turkey, including access to e-mails of two suspects on servers in the United States.

Five Kosovo nationals, including Ilir Rrecaj, a former senior health ministry official, have been charged with five counts, ranging from trafficking in persons to unlawful exercise of medical activity and abuse of power. None of the suspects are in custody.

Two others — Turkish doctor Yusuf Sonmez and Moshe Harel, an Israeli citizen — are listed as wanted by Interpol. Sonmez is the subject of several criminal proceedings in other countries, including Turkey, for human trafficking and removal of organs, according to the indictment.

"Both Sonmez and Harel are fugitive from justice," the indictment said.

The prosecution alleges that one of the five, Kosovo surgeon Lutfi Dervishi was the ringleader of the criminal group. It said Dervishi attended a medical conference in Istanbul in 2006 and asked for someone who could perform organ transplants. He was contacted by Sonmez six months later.

Dervishi and Sonmez then carried out the operations in the private medical clinic "Medicus," managed by Dervishi's son, Arban Dervishi, who is also indicted. Harel was involved in "identifying, recruiting and transporting victims" and "ensuring the delivery of cash payments by electronic bank transfer" prior to surgery, the indictment said. Two other doctors, Sokol Hajdini and Driton Jilta are also indicted.

Another two doctors, Israeli national Zaki Shapira and Turkish national Kenan Demirkol are identified in the 46-page document as "unindicted co-conspirators."

Kosovo law forbids the removal and transplant of organs.

In 2008 investigators closed down the private health clinic where the doctors worked as part of the initial investigation. Kosovo police launched a raid triggered by suspicions that a Turkish man had sold his kidney to an Israeli recipient after he appeared fatigued at Pristina airport trying to board a flight to Turkey.

The man, identified in the indictment as Yilman Altun, told Kosovo police at the airport he came to the Balkan country to donate his kidney on invitation from the private clinics. A doctor found Altun was not in good medical condition, and sent him to the Pristina hospital for treatment.

When police searched the clinic in November 2008 they found an Israeli citizen in postoperative care, according to the indictment. Police seized medical records and supplies.

Rrecaj was fired from his governmental post after the raids and the suspects were arrested on Nov. 4, 2008. They denied all accusations and were released after 30 days in detention.

Soon after the raid, the Belgrade-based daily newspaper Blic alleged that Dervishi was linked to allegations that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army kidnapped Serb civilians and killed them for their organs, which they later sold.

The allegations of the trade stemmed from a book by former U.N. War Crimes tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte who claimed that organ harvesting took place in Albania's remote north. Subsequent investigations did not substantiate the claims.

The indictment has been filed in a local court, according to EU officials who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the case. The officials said the prosecution can still add the names of other suspects to the indictment and details of their alleged crimes. A preliminary hearing is expected to be held by the end of the month, officials said.

The EU has 2,000 justice workers in Kosovo, including police, judges and prosecutors.
APNewsBreak: EU in Kosovo probes organ trafficking - Yahoo! News

Nation & World | APNewsBreak: EU in Kosovo probes organ trafficking | Seattle Times Newspaper

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YouTube - Cruel Harvest: Exposed organ trafficking cashed in on poor & prisoners

YouTube - Cruel Harvest: Exposed organ trafficking cashed in on poor & prisoners

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YouTube - Organ-ized Crime: Kosovo organ trafficking busted

YouTube - Organ-ized Crime: Kosovo organ trafficking busted

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UPDATE
Surgeon detained in Kosovo organ case
Turkish authorities have arrested an internationally wanted doctor for questioning over alleged involvement in human organ trafficking in Kosovo.


Surgeon Yusuf Sonmez, who was charged along with eight others by EU prosecutors in Kosovo late last year, was arrested late on Tuesday in Istanbul, but released on bail the next day awaiting trial, the Associated Press reported.

Sonmez was wanted on an Interpol warrant filed on suspicion of carrying out illegal organ transplant operations in Azerbaijan and Kosovo.

The organized criminal group in question trafficked people from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey into Kosovo for the purpose of removing their organs for transplant.

The Medicus Clinic in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, which was involved in organ trafficking, was shut down back in 2008 after a Turkish man fainted at Pristina's airport and told the UN police he had just had his kidney removed.

Officers raided Medicus and found an Israeli 'transplant tourist' who had just received the Turk's kidney.

The victims were promised up to 14,500 euros (about $20,000), but they received nothing. The organs were then sold for as much as $200,000 each to patients in Canada, Germany and Israel.

Sonmez, 53, is now being questioned by Turkish authorities. He has denied any wrongdoing. Should the doctor be found guilty, he would serve his sentence in a Turkish prison.

Meanwhile, the Turkish judge in charge has less than two weeks to decide if the case against Sonmez will move to a trial.

A number of other suspects in the Medicus case were arrested earlier in Kosovo, but unanimously pleaded not guilty.

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Israeli organ trafficking ring-leader arrested


Israeli organ trafficking ring leader Moshe Harel
Fri May 25, 2012

A European Union (EU) prosecutor says an Israeli man suspected of running an organ trafficking network has been arrested in Israel.


"We have received information that Moshe Harel has been arrested in Israel on organ trafficking and other related offences," EU special prosecutor Jonathan Ratel said.

Harel is wanted in Kosovo, where he and his colleagues reportedly carried out some 30 illegal kidney transplants and removals. Kosovo authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for him.

Harel’s trafficking ring used to prey on donors from poor Eastern European and Asian countries, who were promised about 15,000 euros (USD 19,000) to become organ donors.

Israel has not yet confirmed Harel’s arrest.

Reports earlier this week by Ha’aretz, indicate that at least 10 Israeli citizens were arrested for being members of an organ trafficking gang.

The Italian New Generation Foundation for Human Rights and the Everyone Group has presented evidence indicating that Sinai locals harvest the organs of the people they transfer to Israel. In this connection, a number of mass graves have been found containing the corpses of Africans missing some of their organs.

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Organ trafficking kingpin caught

Organ-ised crime:
Israeli authorities have arrested another member of an international organ trafficking network. In January Yusuf Sonmez (pictured) was arrested for using the illegal organs. Picture:

THE suspected mastermind behind an organ trafficking network has been arrested in Israel.
Moshe Harel had been sought for years by Kosovo authorities before his capture on Thursday.
"We have received information that Moshe Harel has been arrested in Israel on organ trafficking and other related offences," EU special prosecutor Jonathan Ratel said.
"We are seeking confirmation with the Israeli authorities," he added.
If confirmed, the arrest could lead to a breakthrough at the trial of seven people accused of organ trafficking and illegal transplants at the Medicus clinic in the Kosovo capital in 2008.
Mr Harel was arrested in Pristina that year but fled Kosovo after he was released from detention.
Kosovo authorities subsequently issued an international arrest warrant.

According to the indictment, at least 30 illegal kidney removals and transplants were carried out in the Pristina clinic in 2008.
The donors were from poor Eastern European and Central Asian countries, who were promised about 15,000 euros ($19,000) to become organ donors.
The indictment describes Israeli national Harel as the mastermind of a network for recruiting donors and finding recipients.
The seven suspects on trial include former Kosovo health secretary Ilir Rrecaj and Lutfi Dervishi, a prominent Pristina urologist.
Another suspect in the case is Turkish doctor Yusuf Sonmez, accused of having carried out illegal operations to remove organs.
He is also indicted in Turkey.
The Kosovo clinic was raided by police in 2008 after a Turkish man collapsed at Pristina airport waiting for a flight back to Istanbul after having a kidney removed.
The case is being tried by EULEX, the European rule of law mission in Kosovo, set up to help the local judiciary handle sensitive cases after the territory declared independence from Serbia in 2008.