Lebanese millionaire politician faces court in Spain for ORGAN HARVEST: Ex-mayor, 69, ‘tried to buy liver from poor illegal migrant for transplant’
- A former mayor of El Kharayeb has been put on trial in Valencia for organ trafficking
- The five accused are said to have tried to buy a liver from illegal immigrants in Spain
- But a volunteer who worked with undocumented immigrants reported them to the police
- An Algerian woman was excluded as a candidate because of her pregnancy
A millionaire Lebanese politician has been put on trial in Spain for organ trafficking after allegedly trying to buy a liver from poor illegal immigrants.
Hatem Akouche and four other defendants appeared in court in Valencia for trying to buy part of a liver for a transplant.
The 69-year-old, who has an incurable liver disease, is believed to have asked vulnerable people for part of their liver in exchange for money and work.
Akouche – former mayor of the Lebanese city of El Kharayeb – allegedly did so through two of his nephews who ran a marble company in Novelda, province of Alicante, region of Valencia.
But the men were caught when a volunteer at an NGO that works with undocumented immigrants found out about an Algerian woman they had contacted.
The 28-year-old woman had gone for tests in preparation for organ donation but was eventually disqualified as a candidate because she was pregnant at the time.
The case marks the first time potential human organ trafficking has been uncovered in Spain.
Lebanese billionaire Hatem Akouche and four other defendants appeared in court in Valencia for trying to buy part of a liver for a transplant from poor illegal immigrants in Spain
Valencia police began investigating and found that at least seven others had gone to clinics to undergo the same tests as the Algerian.
They noted that each potential candidate had been accompanied on his visits by the same Akouche relative.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, each person is “particularly at risk, both because of their origin and because of their economic hardship”.
The men’s plan fell through when staff at a Barcelona hospital became suspicious of a homeless Romanian man who was asked to donate part of his liver.
But all that trouble could have been avoided. After speaking to doctors a second time, Akouche’s son found out he was compatible with his father and agreed to the donation.
Akouche eventually received part of his son’s liver on August 26, 2013, but was arrested five months later in Valencia Airport’s VIP lounge.
The politician claimed he was unaware at the time that buying vital organs from living people was prohibited under Spanish law.
He was on trial in Valencia in 2019, which ended with an agreement between prosecutors and the accused.
The Lebanese millionaire and his relatives did not dispute the court’s version and accepted a year in prison, while his relatives accepted two years.
He was on trial in Valencia in 2019, which ended with an agreement between prosecutors and the accused. But the group is now back in court after the Supreme Court overturned the finding and ordered a retrial
But the group is now back in court after the Supreme Court overturned the outcome of that trial and ordered a retrial.
The court ordered the case to be retried in order to recognize the National Transplant Organization, an independent agency within the Spanish Ministry of Health, as the injured party.
The prosecutor, representing the Spanish Ministry of Health, is now leading the charge.
The others now on trial are the former mayor’s son, the two nephews and another Lebanese national.
They are accused of encouraging, abetting or facilitating the illegal transplantation of human organs from others.
Prosecutors are asking for three years in prison for Akouche and seven for the other four defendants.