American John Clint Williamson is heading a task force of prosecutors and investigators under the auspices of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) to determine if reports of organ trafficking by high level Kosovo officials are true.
The allegations that soldiers from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) removed the organs of ethnic Serbs held in detention centers in northern Albania first surfaced in a 2010 report by European Council rapporteur Dick Marty.
Marty also alleged that Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci led a guerilla group which played a role in a Balkan organ trafficking ring during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo between the KLA and Serbian forces.
Williamson's spokesman Juri Laas told AFP that the purpose of the prosecutor's visit was to hold introductory meetings in Pristina and conduct a preliminary investigation. Laas also said that there is no time limit on the activities of the task force.
Trials against seven other individuals for organ trafficking in Kosovo are also underway. The defendants are charged with luring victims from Kazakhstan, Russia, Moldova, and Turkey to the Medicus Clinic in Kosovo to have their organs harvested. The victims were promised €15,000 compensation, while the organs were allegedly resold for up to € 80,000- € 100,000. The investigation into organ trafficking was sparked by an incident at a Kosovo airport when a Turkish national collapsed after he had his kidney removed at a Kosovo clinic.
EULEX is handling the case because it is deemed too sensitive for the local judiciary.
