Download Five people, including a surgeon, have gone on trial in Central China in connection with the removal and sale of the kidney of a teenager, who used the money he received to buy an iPhone and iPad 2. Judges heard on Thursday how Wang Shangkun, 18, has been left seriously ill after undergoing an illegal transplant operation in Chenzhou, Hunan province, last year. The defendants, who are accused of intentional injury and illegal organ trading, face three to 10 years in prison. Four others who are suspected of playing a minor role in the incident face fines. According to documents from Beihu district people's court, Wang Shangkun, who lives in Anhui province, made contact with the illegal agency online and agreed to a deal to sell his kidney. The suspected mastermind, He Wei, said during the trial on Thursday that Wang, who was 17 at the time, had been "willing" to receive the surgery. He, who prosecutors claim arranged kidney transplants to pay his debts, contacted Yin Shen and Tang Shimin, who in turn found Su Kaizong, who works at a military hospital in the city and had access to an operating room. Song Zhongyu, a specialist urinary surgeon, was said to have been hired to perform the operation, which took place in April 2011. The kidney was later sold to a man identified in the court indictment as Huang, from Gansu province, in exchange for 150,000 yuan ($23,500) and $10,000 in cash. |