Costa Rica court postpones case against alleged organ traffickers until end-of-year

July 27^th, 2015 (ICR News) A Costa Rican court has postponed the preliminary hearing of four doctors formerly employed by the Calderon Guardia Hospital, who have been charged in an illicit scheme to traffic in human organs.

The hearing, which was expected to take about a week, had been scheduling for last Thursday but the San Jose Criminal Court elected to reschedule for November 30^th.  The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.

Amongst those charged is Dr. Francisco Mora Palma, the former head of nephrology at the hospital, who is facing more than 140 years in prison on charges of illegal organ harvesting and embezzlement.

Authorities arrested Mora Palma on June 18^th, 2013 after an investigation revealed his involvement in an apparent transnational organ trafficking network. 

Mora Palma faces more than 140 years in prison – 10 years for each of 14 counts – if convicted only on the charges of human trafficking for the purpose of illegal organ harvesting, according to section 172 of the penal code.

Mora Palma has also been charged with 16 counts of embezzlement.

At the time of Mora Palma’s arrest, the Attorney General’s Office said that the trafficking network specialized in selling kidneys to patients in Israel.

“The patients who required the transplants were in Israeli territory, and some of the (trafficking) victims [had their kidney removed] here and others were transported to Israel.  We have information that at least one person died after being operated on in Israel,” Attorney General, Jorge Chavarria said at the time.

A police officer that allegedly recruited victims and was arrested the same day as Mora Palma is expected to be a star witness in the case as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

The suspects remain free on their own recognizance, but are not allowed to leave the country.