“Dramatic facts” surface in organ trade case

Serbia's Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric said Thursday that new dramatic facts had surfaced in the investigation into organ trafficking in Kosovo. Former ethnic Albanian so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander and Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is one of the suspects in the investigation. “Dramatic facts” surface in organ trade case Vekaric said there was a struggle inside the UN to change the investigative team so that it includes one UN facilitator and to arrive at a solution as to who would head the investigation, which is currently entrusted to John Clint Williamson and his team. He told Belgrade-based Pink TV that there were new details and that cooperation with Russia would help. At a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavor spoke about the Medicus case, an investigation into illegal trade in human organs in Kosovo, stressing that Russia would make sure the case was investigated thoroughly. According to Russian daily Komersant, Russian investigative bodies have officially confirmed that the victims of illegal organ transplantations which took place at the Medicus clinic in Kosovo include Russian citizens, and ascertained the involvement of high-level Kosovo officials. The Medicus clinic case concerns illegal organ trafficking that took place in Pristina several years after the 1999 war in the province, when money was offered to the victims in exchange for their vital organs. The case investigated by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution, and which was the subject of the Council of Europe Rapporteur Dick Marty's report, concerns kidnappings, illegal imprisonment, organ extraction and deaths of Serb and other civilians in Kosovo and northern Albania in 1999 and 2000. Bruno Vekaric (FoNet, file) Tanjug

“Dramatic facts” surface in organ trade case

Vekarić said there was a struggle inside the UN to change the investigative team so that it includes one UN facilitator and to arrive at a solution as to who would head the investigation, which is currently entrusted to John Clint Williamson and his team.

He told Belgrade-based Pink TV that there were new details and that cooperation with Russia would help.

At a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavor spoke about the Medicus case, an investigation into illegal trade in human organs in Kosovo, stressing that Russia would make sure the case was investigated thoroughly.

According to Russian daily Komersant, Russian investigative bodies have officially confirmed that the victims of illegal organ transplantations which took place at the Medicus clinic in Kosovo include Russian citizens, and ascertained the involvement of high-level Kosovo officials.

The Medicus clinic case concerns illegal organ trafficking that took place in Priština several years after the 1999 war in the province, when money was offered to the victims in exchange for their vital organs.

The case investigated by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution, and which was the subject of the Council of Europe Rapporteur Dick Marty's report, concerns kidnappings, illegal imprisonment, organ extraction and deaths of Serb and other civilians in Kosovo and northern Albania in 1999 and 2000.