Japan nonprofit group director convicted in overseas organ transplant case

The head of a Japanese nonprofit organization was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in jail for mediating overseas organ transplants for Japan residents without government approval.The Tokyo District Court ruled that Hiromichi Kikuchi, director of the Association for Patients of Intractable Diseases, had violated the organ transplant law by facilitating transplants for two recipients in Belarus, collecting a total of 51.5 million yen from them.The court also slapped the Tokyo-based association with a fine of 1 million yen ($6,744) over the case.Kikuchi's defense had sought an acquittal, arg…READ FULL ARTICLE