Israeli suspected of organ trafficking

JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST

May. 1, 2007

Professor Zaki Shapira, one of Israel's leading transplant surgeons, was
arrested in Turkey on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in an organ
trafficking ring, Channel 10 reported Tuesday.

According to the report, the transplants were arranged in Turkey and took
place at private hospitals in Istanbul. The surgeon was reportedly taken into
custody following a firefight at one of the hospitals, the reason for which was
unknown, in which five people were reportedly killed.

Shapira's attorney, Yair Skelsky, said that he did not know why his client
had been arrested.

"He has never committed any crime related to organ trafficking, or any other
crime," the lawyer said. "Not now and not in this case. [Shapira] has never been
tried or convicted."

"All of Professor Shapira's actions were done to save lives," Skelsky said.

A kidney transplant patient told Channel 10 that the operations Shapira
arranged were "not permitted."

Channel 10 said that Shapira had been investigated in the past for alleged
involvement in organ donations from live donors, but that the investigation had
been closed.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed the report, and said that Israel's consuls in
Istanbul and Ankara were working to assist Shapira.

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