Kosovo Tries 7 for Organ Harvesting

Seven people are being charged in a Kosovo court on Tuesday with trafficking human organs. The defendants, including five medical personnel and a Health Ministry official, pleaded not guilty to performing about 30 illegal transplants in 2008—the same year Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. They are suspected of promising to pay thousands of dollars for the kidneys of victims from Turkey, Russia, Moldova, and Kazakhstan. The European Union’s police and justice mission is presiding over the case, while also investigating allegations against Kosovo liberation fighters, including current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.