JURIST - Paper Chase: Albania prosecutor refuses to investigate Serbian organ trafficking allegations

[JURIST] Serbian prosecutors Thursday condemned Albania's refusal to initiate an investigation into allegations of organ trafficking [JURIST news archive] in Kosovo. Albanian Prosecutor General Ina Rama refused Tuesday to cooperate with Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic [official website] and said that her country will only pursue the allegations if the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] decides to reopen its investigation. Vukcevic said that Serbia will send the case to the Council of Europe. AP has more. From Belgrade, B92 has local coverage.

Rama and Vukcevic met [JURIST report] Monday to discuss allegations [JURIST report] by former ICTY prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] that about 300 Serbian and other non-Albanian prisoners were victims of organ trafficking during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo. Serbia announced [JURIST report] in April plans to request that the ICTY resume its probe into the allegations after Vukcevic received "informal statements" [JURIST report] from ICTY investigators concerning illegal organ harvesting. Both Human Rights Watch and the Council of Europe have completed reports into the allegations [JURIST reports], urging further investigation.

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