The Cairo Criminal Court in the El Tagamo‘ El Khames suburb on Saturday upheld the asset freeze of 33 defendants in a human organs trafficking case. the asset freeze was issued by prosecutor general Nabi Sadek.
According to a circulating report which includes the results of the investigation operation conducted by the prosecution, the 33 defendants are accused of having been a part of an international human organs trafficking network that exploits vulnerable patients and convinces the to sell their organs.
On Tuesday 45 suspects accused earlier in December of being members of the trafficking ring were arrested. According to a statement published by the Ministry of Health, the criminal organisation includes doctors and nurses.
At the time, the suspects were referred to the prosecution which decided to imprison 24 of the 45 defendants for 15 days pending investigations, according to state-run newspaper Al-Ahram.
The newspaper also reported that the nurses involved in the criminal organisation confessed their involvement, adding that the doctors were paid EGP 50,000-60,000 for every organ harvested. The doctors have denied the accusations.
The Health Ministry said the ring was being monitored and the arrest was carried out with the help of the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), adding that several workers, patients and brokers were also arrested.
The Ministry of Health said that among the arrested were medical professors working for the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and its Ain Shams University affiliate. Other doctors that have been arrested include doctors working for the Ahmed Maher educational hospital and various privately-owned medical centres and labs.
“The campaign targeted a number of privately licensed and unlicensed hospitals and medical centres, most of which are based in Giza” the Health Ministry’s statement said.
The Ministry of Health said the accused exploited the economic situation of some Egyptians and the suffering of some patients and their need for treatment. Their statement added that 10 medical centres and hospitals have been raided and investigated. They have also been temporarily shut down pending investigations.
