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| Moshe Harel interpol information screenshot |
The Israeli Moshe Harel, was arrested in Qirpro, for organ trafficking in Kosovo, in the case of 'Medikus II'.
International media have reported extensively about this news, announced by Kosovo Police, as Israeli Harel is also wanted by Interpol.
Poor people from Eastern and Central Asian areas are suspected of being brought to the Medicus clinic after being assured that they would receive up to 15,000 euros for a kidney.Beneficiaries, mainly Israelis, would pay up to 100,000 euros for the organs to transplant into their bodies. Some donors have never received any money.
The body scandal came to light in 2008 after a Turkish man whose kidneys were removed was found seriously ill at Pristina Airport.
Police raided his clinic, which was closed after the scandal.
In 2013, a court led by EULEX judges sentenced five Kosovo doctors to eight years in prison for organ trafficking. They have denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said at the time of the trial that donors, whose bodies were illegally removed, remained without proper medical care and were treated as "garbage".
The 68-year-old Moshe Harel, who was born in Turkey, but of Israeli nationality, is suspected of organ trafficking in Kosovo, and has been wanted for more than 7 years by security authorities.
The indictment on this case was filed on June 10, 2011 by EULEX prosecutor Jonathan Ratel, who charged the Turkish surgeon Yusuf Ercin Sonmez with trafficking of human beings, organized crime and unlawful medical activity, while the Israeli Moshe Harel is charged for human trafficking and organized crime. The arrest case is confirmed by the Kosovo Police, through its spokesman Bakim Kelani.
"Kosovo police have information that according to an international arrest warrant, a suspect (M.H.) who was wanted since 2010 was arrested in Cyprus," Kelani said.
He announced that his extradition is a competence of other authorities, but it is not yet known whether he will be extradited to Kosovo or Russia, as he is also wanted by these two states.