New evidence found in organ-stealing case
Pearl Karamitros
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: News
New evidence has been found linking Albanian guerrillas with stealing and selling organs during the Kosovo War of 1998-99.
The European Union is launching an investigation into allegations of an organ trade.
Some Serbian officials believe that ethnic Albanian guerrillas may have kidnapped Serbian civilians at the end of the 1998-99 Kosovo War.
Allegations state these soldiers proceeded to harvest the organs of their kidnapped victims and sell the body parts on the black market.
Though transplanting an organ like a kidney takes great skill, removing one can be a quick and straightforward process.
U.N. and Serbian documents contained information on what was discovered at a farmhouse in remote north-central Albania: bloodstains, syringes, depleted bottles of muscle relaxants, surgical gear, and other materials.
The current owners of the farmhouse offered a "plausible explanation" for having the equipment, but it has been enough to raise questions about the decade old mystery.
A 2004 United Nations inquiry into the issue proved inconclusive.
A more recent investigation by The Associated Press had the same fate.
An investigation is now being led by Dick Marty, a Senator for Switzerland.
He is working on behalf of the Council of Europe.
Serbian authorities say they have uncovered new evidence.
The authorities say a Swiss man and a German man were among the recipients of kidneys, livers, and other harvested organs after the war.
These organs were sold via nameless middlemen. The organ selling business was thought to bring in tens of millions of dollars.
According to Bruno Vekaric, a top adviser to Vladimir Vukcevic (Serbia's chief war crimes prosecutor) the new information came from "people involved in the operation."
The Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas fought Serbian troops who were loyal to the late Slobodan Milosevic.
The bloodshed only ended after NATO relinquished heavy airstrikes upon Serbia and sent in peacekeepers in June 1999.
The European Union is launching an investigation into allegations of an organ trade.
Some Serbian officials believe that ethnic Albanian guerrillas may have kidnapped Serbian civilians at the end of the 1998-99 Kosovo War.
Allegations state these soldiers proceeded to harvest the organs of their kidnapped victims and sell the body parts on the black market.
Though transplanting an organ like a kidney takes great skill, removing one can be a quick and straightforward process.
U.N. and Serbian documents contained information on what was discovered at a farmhouse in remote north-central Albania: bloodstains, syringes, depleted bottles of muscle relaxants, surgical gear, and other materials.
The current owners of the farmhouse offered a "plausible explanation" for having the equipment, but it has been enough to raise questions about the decade old mystery.
A 2004 United Nations inquiry into the issue proved inconclusive.
A more recent investigation by The Associated Press had the same fate.
An investigation is now being led by Dick Marty, a Senator for Switzerland.
He is working on behalf of the Council of Europe.
Serbian authorities say they have uncovered new evidence.
The authorities say a Swiss man and a German man were among the recipients of kidneys, livers, and other harvested organs after the war.
These organs were sold via nameless middlemen. The organ selling business was thought to bring in tens of millions of dollars.
According to Bruno Vekaric, a top adviser to Vladimir Vukcevic (Serbia's chief war crimes prosecutor) the new information came from "people involved in the operation."
The Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas fought Serbian troops who were loyal to the late Slobodan Milosevic.
The bloodshed only ended after NATO relinquished heavy airstrikes upon Serbia and sent in peacekeepers in June 1999.
Be the first to comment on this story