Court in St. Petersburg annuls deal to supply human organs

ST. PETERSBURG, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - An arbitration court in St. Petersburg ruled Tuesday that the contract to supply human organs between a local hospital and a commercial firm is illegal, prosecutors in Russia's second largest city said.

The St. Petersburg transport prosecutor's office checked the activities of the local customs office and established that a customs declaration on the export of "anatomic specimens" was filed in January 2006. These specimens, which turned out to be the embalmed organs of corpses, were exported from Russia in April 2006.

The declaration was filed by a Russian firm, which received organs from a hospital under a contract signed with a foreign company.

Under the contract signed by the hospital's chief doctor and general director of the Russian firm, the hospital was to supply it with "corpses of homeless people, amputated limbs and stillborn babies to be used at an anatomic laboratory for research and training purposes."

The contract contradicts Russian legislation, which prohibits the use of human organs and tissues in commercial deals.