investigation

Yesterday, Kommersant obtained a copy of the indictment against two key defendants in the case of “black transplantologists”—Muhammad Jet and Hasan Zahalka. The document states that illegal operations to remove human organs were carried out in Ukraine. The police insist that such information must be confirmed by the results of an appropriate investigation, which their Israeli colleagues did not conduct.

Let us recall that, according to Israeli police investigations, this summer a group of Israelis of Arab origin organized more than ten illegal human organ transplants. Last Sunday, two suspects, Mohammed Jet and Hasan Zahalka, were arrested by a court decision. The location of the alleged customer, Dr. Michael Zis, has not yet been established. On Monday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that, according to their information, Ukrainian citizens, as well as clinics located in the country, were not involved in the case (see Kommersant of August 14).

Yesterday, at the request of Kommersant, journalist Ruti Abraham, accredited to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, requested from the department and handed over to the editor a copy of the indictment “The State of Israel, represented by the Northern District Prosecutor’s Office, against Mohammed Jet and Hassan Zahalka.” Ukraine is mentioned in the document as a country on whose territory illegal organ transplant operations were organized.

Thus, the third paragraph of the indictment states: “After the victims donated blood for a kidney function test, the defendants transported them to Ukraine - into the hands of Dr. Michael Zis - for the purpose of having their kidneys removed on Dr. Zis's order.”

The following are several examples of the gang's criminal activities. In particular, the first count of the indictment states that the defendants helped one of the victims obtain a visa to Ukraine, “since the operation was to take place there.” The same paragraph states that the day before the flight to Ukraine, a woman with two daughters lived in the house of the accused, she changed her mind about flying, and when she wanted to cancel the deal, she was refused, citing the large amount already paid “for a Ukrainian visa.” According to investigators, the accused were helped by the wife of Dr. Zisa Ella with obtaining visas.

Further, in the description of the criminal actions of the defendants, certain Boris appears, who accompanied the victims to Ukraine, and Igor, who met them at the airport. However, the document does not indicate that Igor and Boris are citizens of Ukraine; the name of the airport or even the city to which the victims were flying are not mentioned.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs told Kommersant yesterday that Israeli colleagues can confirm or refute information about operations in Ukrainian clinics only after conducting an appropriate investigation on the territory of Ukraine. So far, according to the head of the public relations center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Konstantin Stogniy, they have not engaged in such an investigation, or at least they could not conduct it legally without notifying the local central office (let us recall that the investigation organized by the local police gave a negative result).

Mr. Stogny told Kommersant that he expects from the representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs at the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel official information on this criminal case and, when he receives a response, will be able to provide more detailed comments.

Kommersant will monitor developments.

MATVEY Ъ-NIKITIN; GRIGORY Kommersant-ASMOLOV, Tel Aviv

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