PRISTINA, Kosovo -- A European Union prosecutor has named seven people as suspects in an international organ trafficking network, according to the indictment obtained Thursday 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.
In the document, EU prosecutor Jonathan Ratel said that "the organized criminal group" trafficked persons into Kosovo for the purpose of removing "human organs for transplant to other persons." It added that the investigation found that some 20 foreign nationals "were recruited with false promises of payments" in 2008.
"These victims were recruited in other countries, then transported and received at Pristina Airport through the false promise of payments for the removal of their kidneys," Ratel said in the indictment. He said victims were promised up to $20,000 (14,500 euros) while recipients were required to pay between 80,000 and 100,000 euros ($110,000-137,000).
According to the indictment, the victims came from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey and lived in "extreme poverty or acute financial distress."
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 internationals -- 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.
The prosecution alleges that one of the five, Kosovo surgeon Lutfi Dervishi "acted as leader" of the criminal group along with Sonmez and Harel. The prosecution 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," in the capital Pristina 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.
In 2008 investigators closed down the private health clinic where the doctors worked as part of the initial investigation. Police launched a raid triggered by suspicions that a Turkish man had sold his kidney to an Israeli recipient. Rrecaj was fired from his governmental post after the raids. The suspects denied all accusations when initially detained in 2008.
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 did not say whether any of the victims -- who are still to be interviewed -- received any money.
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 a 2,000 justice workers in Kosovo, including police, judges and prosecutors.
Lì ci sono chiese, macerie, moschee e questure, lì frontiere, prezzi inaccessibile e freddure
Lì paludi, minacce, cecchini coi fucili, documenti, file notturne e clandestini
Qui incontri, lotte, passi sincronizzati, colori, capannelli non autorizzati,
Uccelli migratori, reti, informazioni, piazze di Tutti i like pazze di passioni...
...La tranquillità è importante ma la libertà è tutto!
No shit. Everyone (with a brain) knew that Kosovo and Albania are a cesspool of crime, trafficking (drugs, humans) and corruption. Should have left the Serbs clean up the place.
iborg wrote:No shit. Everyone (with a brain) knew that Kosovo and Albania are a cesspool of crime, trafficking (drugs, humans) and corruption. Should have left the Serbs clean up the place.
What the hell, man? The place is bad, but you're supporting genocide with that post.
As for the article, I guess the victims (talking about the 5 foreigners) can be glad the traffickers just took their kidneys. They could have taken a lot of other stuff while they had them opened. Of course that's a terrible thing to endure and they could easily have major health complications due to it.
If the snippet about the Kosovo Liberation Army killed Serbs for their organs is true, that's incredibly sad. As a question: how long do organs keep, even with the proper equipment? Isn't it a short time?
Coyote: Warm it in the microwave first to avoid that 'necrophelia' effect.
Through the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians? Because that's far preferable to 20 people trying to sell their kidneys...
No. Actually, the Kosovo ethnic cleansing accusation was a sham purposefully invented to justify NATO's intervention.
The whole Kosovo affair was a (now studied as a classic) exemple of mass disinformation. In reality there was no genocide of Albanians, and the ethnic cleansing accusation has to be tempered by the history of the region : Kosovo used to be a Serb province, the birthplace of the Serb nation actually.
The events were throughly analyzed in Vladimir Volkoff'sDésinformation : flagrant délit (which wasn't translated in English AFAIK).
I dont know of an English-language book on the subject, sorry.
Anyway, even if the Serbs had retaken control of Kosovo, it would have left Albania, which is a cancerous mafia-ridden sore in Europe's belly.
Through the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians? Because that's far preferable to 20 people trying to sell their kidneys...
No. Actually, the Kosovo ethnic cleansing accusation was a sham purposefully invented to justify NATO's intervention.
The whole Kosovo affair was a (now studied as a classic) exemple of mass disinformation. In reality there was no genocide of Albanians, and the ethnic cleansing accusation has to be tempered by the history of the region : Kosovo used to be a Serb province, the birthplace of the Serb nation actually.
The events were throughly analyzed in Vladimir Volkoff'sDésinformation : flagrant délit (which wasn't translated in English AFAIK).
I dont know of an English-language book on the subject, sorry.
Pro-Serbian historical revisionism. Samantha Power's analysis of Kosovo in A Problem From Hell was that Serbian military forces were preparing to carry out genocide in Kosovo, and that they actually began to carry out this plan after the NATO bombings started.
Kosovo's history as a Serbian province and the site of an important battle in the 14th century is completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing took place there and I'm confused as to why you would even bring it up.
Through the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians? Because that's far preferable to 20 people trying to sell their kidneys...
No. Actually, the Kosovo ethnic cleansing accusation was a sham purposefully invented to justify NATO's intervention.
The whole Kosovo affair was a (now studied as a classic) exemple of mass disinformation. In reality there was no genocide of Albanians, and the ethnic cleansing accusation has to be tempered by the history of the region : Kosovo used to be a Serb province, the birthplace of the Serb nation actually.
The events were throughly analyzed in Vladimir Volkoff'sDésinformation : flagrant délit (which wasn't translated in English AFAIK).
I dont know of an English-language book on the subject, sorry.
Anyway, even if the Serbs had retaken control of Kosovo, it would have left Albania, which is a cancerous mafia-ridden sore in Europe's belly.
I'd like to see some more proof. Ideally proof from someone who didn't write fiction, like a qualified military analyst or a historian. Citing one book - which you can't provide quotes from - by a novelist isn't enough when there's photographic evidence of atrocities.
"Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too—ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. Nothing earthly succeeds by ignoring heaven, nothing heavenly by ignoring the earth." M.A.A.A
Kosovo's history as a Serbian province and the site of an important battle in the 14th century is completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing took place there and I'm confused as to why you would even bring it up.
Why are you confused? You already named it - historical revisionism. It's a 1:1 copy of holocaust deniers pointing out when jews had a good standing in Germany, for example jewish soldiers during WW I. Basically "because we were friends once, we couldn't possibly not be friends in the present, therefore we could not have possibly committed any crimes against humanity."
SoS:NBAGALE Force "Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent." - Sir Nitram
"The world owes you nothing but painful lessons" - CaptainChewbacca
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." - Wilhelm Stekel
"In 1969 it was easier to send a man to the Moon than to have the public accept a homosexual" - Broomstick Divine Administration - of Gods and Bureaucracy (Worm/Exalted)
Historical revisionism is only a bad thing when it isn't supported by the evidence. It's often the case that previous historians have interpreted a subject badly. In such cases historical revisionism is commendable. Evidence is paramount, and that's why Andrew is asking whether there is any.
Andrew J. wrote:[
Pro-Serbian historical revisionism. Samantha Power's analysis of Kosovo in A Problem From Hell was that Serbian military forces were preparing to carry out genocide in Kosovo, and that they actually began to carry out this plan after the NATO bombings started.
Kosovo's history as a Serbian province and the site of an important battle in the 14th century is completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not ethnic cleansing took place there and I'm confused as to why you would even bring it up.
Damn, there's no multiquote feature on this board. So this Samantha Power's basically repeating the official NATO and State Dpt version of things. Except there's no proof of a genocide. No mass civilian graves, nothing. Kosovo was not Bosnia. I could answer that Miss Powers a pro-NATO/American historical revisionist.
And if you don't think past history's important in understanding what happened and why, then what can I say.
Loomer : Volkoff wrote fiction, but his books on disinformation are factual analyses. He can be considered a professional analyst in that field, and he was an intelligence officer at one point in his life. He's not Tom Clancy, in other words. But I understand if you don't take my word for it without having access to his writings, due to the language barrier.
The Albanians appear to be slowly ethnically cleansing Kosovo of Serbs and other minorities. Organ stealing and outright murder seem to be common occurrences.
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi
"Problem is, while the Germans have had many mea culpas and quite painfully dealt with their history, the South is still hellbent on painting themselves as the real victims. It gives them a special place in the history of assholes" - Covenant
"Over three million died fighting for the emperor, but when the war was over he pretended it was not his responsibility. What kind of man does that?'' - Saburo Sakai
