You're reading: Kyiv prosecutors dispute acquittal of people accused of illegal transplantations

Kyiv Prosecutor's Office has appealed a court ruling that acquitted six individuals of charges of illegal transplantation and human trafficking due to alleged statute of limitations deadlines.

In 2009-2010, the suspects searched the Internet for people wishing to sell their kidneys and promised to find customers for them, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Ukrainian law forbids the transplantation of kidneys from a would-be donor who is not a relative of the potential recipient, and so the suspects forged kinship certificates and organized kidney transplantations at the Shalimov National Institute of Transplantation Surgery.

They also arranged for operations in countries with less strict transplantation laws.

Besides asking a court of appeal to resume action against the suspects, among whom Shalimov Institute surgeons are included, the prosecutor’s office protested what it argued was an excessively light punishment for a suspect who had drawn a minor into the alleged illicit business.