A court in Baku has acquitted a man accused of fraud in an unusual case involving an alleged promise to donate a kidney in exchange for money.
According to local media reports, the case centered on a dispute between two acquaintances after one of them offered to donate a kidney to the other’s wife, who was undergoing dialysis treatment. The operation ultimately did not take place, leading to criminal charges.
The complainant alleged that the defendant, born in 1977, had learned of his wife’s medical condition and volunteered to donate a kidney free of charge. Medical examinations conducted at a specialized hospital reportedly confirmed donor compatibility.
However, the complainant claimed that the defendant later requested money on multiple occasions and received a total of 17,109 manats. After completing the medical checks, the alleged donor refused to proceed with the transplant and did not return the funds.
During hearings at the Narimanov District Court, presided over by Judge Azer Tagiyev, the defendant denied the fraud charges. He stated that he had genuinely agreed to become a donor without any financial conditions and that his consent had been notarized.
According to the defense, the transplant was canceled after the Ministry of Health’s Ethics Commission on Organ Donation and Transplantation issued a negative conclusion.
The court also established that the defendant had submitted official applications through ASAN Service, participated in a video session of the Ethics Commission, and repeatedly confirmed his willingness to donate the organ free of charge.
In its ruling, the court found that fraud under Azerbaijani law requires proof that a person acted with an initial intent to unlawfully obtain property through deception or abuse of trust. The judges concluded that the defendant had demonstrated a consistent and documented intention to act as a donor and that the final decision on transplantation rested with the Ethics Commission, not the individual.
The court further noted that the money transferred was not proven to be payment for an organ donation and had been given voluntarily in separate instances, without contractual or economic linkage to the transplant procedure.
As a result, the court ruled that no criminal offense had been committed, acquitted the defendant under Article 178.2.4 of the Criminal Code, and ordered his immediate release in the courtroom.
