The European Union's rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) has charged a Turk and an Israeli citizen with illegally trafficking organs at a clinic in Pristina, Reuters quoted EULEX as saying on Monday.
The charges against Yusuf Ercin Sonmez, a Turkish surgeon, and Moshe Harel, a citizen of Israel, include trafficking in persons, unlawful medical activity and organised crime, according to Reuters.
"Warrants for their arrest have been issued by the District Court in Pristina and both suspects are subject to international wanted notices, issued by Interpol," said EULEX spokesman Blerim Krasniqi.
Kosovo police believe Harel was instrumental in finding people in need of a kidney transplant and luring to the clinic in Pristina donors from poor countries by offering huge sums of money to them.
Seven others, all Kosovo citizens, including the director of the Medicus clinic Lutfi Dervishi, have been charged by EULEX on the same case with similar offences and are waiting for the trial to start.
Police learnt about the transplants three years ago when a Turkish citizen was stopped at Pristina airport after he donated a kidney.
The prosecution says donors from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey were promised around 15,000 euros while the recipients paid between 80,000 and 100,000 euros for their organ transplants.
The offences were allegedly committed in 2008 on the outskirts of Pristina at the Medicus clinic, where the prosecution says at least 30 illegal transplants were performed.
