LARNACA, Cyprus — A Cypriot court orders an Israeli national suspected of being the brains behind an international organ trafficking gang to remain in custody until an extradition process begins on February 5.
Moshe Harel’s defense lawyers had asked for the 70-year-old travel agent, who was arrested at Larnaca airport on January 5, to be released from custody on bail terms until the process starts.
Harel is accused of seeking out people in need of kidney transplants and of luring donors to Kosovo from Turkey and the ex-Soviet Union a decade ago.
Both Russia and Kosovo, which Cyprus does not recognize, have issued international arrest warrants for him.
“In view of the seriousness of the crimes, I judge that there is visible danger of him escaping before his extradition process begins… The bail terms proposed by the defense are not satisfactory,” judge Michalis Charalambous says.
— AFP
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