Overview
- The two Romanian suspects, who were extradited to Germany and held in pretrial detention, were released Wednesday after prosecutors said newly presented material altered the alleged victim’s earlier statements.
- German prosecutors are treating the matter as a suspected case of human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and say the inquiry is continuing in the Organized Crime unit.
- Romanian DIICOT originally alleged the couple forced a compatriot to donate a kidney in Germany by threatening his parents, holding him in a Munich apartment and arranging a transplant in a German clinic.
- German and Romanian investigators carried out coordinated searches in March in Timișoara and Munich, and the suspects were arrested under a European arrest warrant before their extradition.
- The case raises questions about how donor consent and family relationships are checked in transplant procedures, and prosecutors say they will now review medical records, evidence and any links to organized criminal activity.