EULEX Joins Organ Trafficking Bribe Probe

The EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, has confirmed that it is now involved in the investigation into allegations that three Serbs attempted to secure false testimony about organ trafficking.

Christophe Lamfalussy told Balkan Insight that a mixed team of Kosovo and EULEX prosecutors in Pristina were now investigating the case.

Three Serbs were arrested in June by Kosovo police, accused of trying to bribe Kosovo Serbs to falsely testify that they were victims of organ harvesting during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict. EULEX was not involved in the initial arrests.

Milutin Radanovic and Predrag Zelkovic are Serbian citizens. The third man arrested is Igor Jucinac, a Kosovo Serb, who was a Kosovo policeman until he was dismissed for misconduct.

Lamfalussy said the case is now being handled jointly by two prosecutors in Pristina, one from Kosovo, the other from EULEX. "The case is under active investigation, the suspects remain subject to an order of detention,” he said.

The news emerged as broadcaster RTK aired undercover footage of the suspects talking about offering up to 100,000 euros for false testimony.

Allegations that elements of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, were involved in removing organs from prisoners for trafficking first surfaced in Carla Del Ponte’s book, The Hunt: Me and War Criminals. The claims have been strenuously denied by former KLA members and the Kosovo government.

The allegations are being investigated by EULEX and, more recently, by Dick Marty, rapporteur for the European Council, who visited Serbia and Albania to gather evidence last week.

Busted! Serbian agents caught on tape offering as much as EUR 100,000 for false information on "organ trading" and admit that they paid as much as EUR 300,000 to some people that apparently gave false evidence to Del Ponte.

The video leaked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SeotNG8Utg

Transcript: "Agent 1: You win 60,000-70,000 Euros. This is a done deal. Money is not an issue. There is a procedure how the money is allocated

Citizen: Is he a state’s official?

Agent 1: Yes, he is.

Citizen: Who gives the money? The state, or…?

Agent 1: Yes, the state does.

Citizen: Serbia?

Agent 1: Yes, Serbia. Do you know how much it cost to us to pay a person who gave the information that his organ (kidney) was transplanted – 300,000 Euros, I swear to God."

Europe looks at Serb claims of organ sales in Kosovo war ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, August 04, 2009 BELGRADE, Serbia — Europe's top human rights watchdog launched an inquiry Monday into Serb allegations that ethnic Albanian guerrillas kidnapped Serb civilians during Kosovo's war, then removed their organs and sold the body parts on the black market. Leading the inquiry is Dick Marty, a Swiss senator representing the Council of Europe. He is expected to meet top Serbian judiciary and war crimes officials during a two-day visit to Belgrade and also plans to travel to Albania on Wednesday. Serbian officials say as many as 500 Kosovo Serbs vanished during the 1998-99 war. They claim at least some of them may have had organs removed. The Serb war crimes investigators say they have concrete proof that at least 10 people have been the victims of an international organ trafficking operation but that many more may have been operated on in makeshift hospitals in neighboring Albania before being dumped in mass graves. Ethnic Albanian officials have denied the claims. They said the allegations are part of Serbian propaganda against Kosovo's independence from Serbia, which was declared by ethnic Albanian leaders last year with Western backing.

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