9 get prison for helping 11 men sell their kidneys
By Li Qian |
April 24, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NINE people were handed prison sentences yesterday in Hangzhou for arranging for 11 people sell one of their kidneys, charging recipients 10 times or more what donors were paid.
The ringleader, Lu Qing, got 10 years and the others received terms from one year to five and a half years, according to Jianggan District People's Court.
The crimes occurred between November 2011 and May 2012, officials said.
Young men who were either in debt or wanted to earn quick money to buy fancy products like iPhones and Yamaha motorbikes were each paid 20,000 yuan (US$3,238) to 40,000 yuan for a kidney, while each buyer was charged 200,000 to 500,000 yuan.
The gang took most of the money, news portal hangzhou.com.cn reported. Lu alone earned nearly 160,000 yuan in six months, the report said.
The gang posted online ads to find young men willing to sell a kidney, took them to a hospital for an examination and posted their medical report and other information for buyers. Lu housed them in Hangzhou as they waited for kidney-removal surgery in the city where the buyer lived, the report said.
Though sellers signed agreements saying they voluntarily sold a kidney, Lu and his associates were not immune from criminal charges because organ trading is banned in China.
"They used such agreements in an attempt to cover up their crimes and escape from their responsibility. We don't accept that," the judge said.
Human organ trading and organ donations from living donors, except for close family members and blood relatives, is illegal. An underground trade in human organs, however, is booming in the country because of the huge demand for transplants.
Ministry of Health statistics show that 1.5 million people in China need transplants, but only 10,000 operations are performed each year.
The ringleader, Lu Qing, got 10 years and the others received terms from one year to five and a half years, according to Jianggan District People's Court.
The crimes occurred between November 2011 and May 2012, officials said.
Young men who were either in debt or wanted to earn quick money to buy fancy products like iPhones and Yamaha motorbikes were each paid 20,000 yuan (US$3,238) to 40,000 yuan for a kidney, while each buyer was charged 200,000 to 500,000 yuan.
The gang took most of the money, news portal hangzhou.com.cn reported. Lu alone earned nearly 160,000 yuan in six months, the report said.
The gang posted online ads to find young men willing to sell a kidney, took them to a hospital for an examination and posted their medical report and other information for buyers. Lu housed them in Hangzhou as they waited for kidney-removal surgery in the city where the buyer lived, the report said.
Though sellers signed agreements saying they voluntarily sold a kidney, Lu and his associates were not immune from criminal charges because organ trading is banned in China.
"They used such agreements in an attempt to cover up their crimes and escape from their responsibility. We don't accept that," the judge said.
Human organ trading and organ donations from living donors, except for close family members and blood relatives, is illegal. An underground trade in human organs, however, is booming in the country because of the huge demand for transplants.
Ministry of Health statistics show that 1.5 million people in China need transplants, but only 10,000 operations are performed each year.
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