BULGARIA SEEKS HIV MEDICS' RETURN !
The imprisonment of the medics has caused an international outcry. Bulgaria is expected to begin moves to secure the transfer from Libya of six Bulgarian medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV.
Death sentences on the six - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who holds Bulgarian citizenship - have been commuted to life in prison.
The decision came on Tuesday after the families of the 438 children agreed a compensation deal.
The medics, who were convicted in 2004, maintain their innocence.
Libya and Bulgaria have a bilateral agreement on prisoner exchange.
A Bulgarian judiciary official said diplomats would now start taking all necessary steps to enable the medical workers to travel home.
Death sentences on the six - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who holds Bulgarian citizenship - have been commuted to life in prison.
The decision came on Tuesday after the families of the 438 children agreed a compensation deal.
The medics, who were convicted in 2004, maintain their innocence.
Libya and Bulgaria have a bilateral agreement on prisoner exchange.
A Bulgarian judiciary official said diplomats would now start taking all necessary steps to enable the medical workers to travel home.
Their main Libyan defence lawyer, Osman al-Bizant, told the al-Jazeera television network that their deportation would depend on whether there was the possibility of carrying out the punishment in Bulgaria.
But Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin, when asked whether it was possible that the medics would be pardoned after returning home, replied: "All judicial options are real."
The Libyan Foreign Minister, Abdel-Rahman Shalqam, said Tripoli was willing to consider the medics' transfer to Bulgaria.
"In return, improving the conditions of the infected children and their families should be taken into account," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Libya's Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentences, placing the medics' fate with the High Judicial Council.
The council, a semi-political body with the power to commute sentences or issue pardons, ruled that the six should instead receive life sentences.
At the weekend the medics signed a letter of request for pardon and mercy, as well as a document ruling out any further legal action against the Libyan state over the prison time they have so far served.
The compensation deal agreed by the parents of the infected children is reportedly worth $1m (£500,000) per child.
The payout is reportedly coming from an international fund which the Libyan government, the European Union and other organisations are contributing to.
'Poor hygiene'
The medics were convicted of deliberately injecting 438 children with HIV-tainted blood. Fifty-six of them have since died.
But Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin, when asked whether it was possible that the medics would be pardoned after returning home, replied: "All judicial options are real."
The Libyan Foreign Minister, Abdel-Rahman Shalqam, said Tripoli was willing to consider the medics' transfer to Bulgaria.
"In return, improving the conditions of the infected children and their families should be taken into account," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Libya's Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentences, placing the medics' fate with the High Judicial Council.
The council, a semi-political body with the power to commute sentences or issue pardons, ruled that the six should instead receive life sentences.
At the weekend the medics signed a letter of request for pardon and mercy, as well as a document ruling out any further legal action against the Libyan state over the prison time they have so far served.
The compensation deal agreed by the parents of the infected children is reportedly worth $1m (£500,000) per child.
The payout is reportedly coming from an international fund which the Libyan government, the European Union and other organisations are contributing to.
'Poor hygiene'
The medics were convicted of deliberately injecting 438 children with HIV-tainted blood. Fifty-six of them have since died.
TRIAL IN DATES
1999: 19 Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor are arrested at a Benghazi hospital after an outbreak of HIV/Aids among children. 13 are later freed
May 2004: Libya convicts and sentences five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor for infecting children with HIV. A Bulgarian doctor is freed
Dec 2005: Libyan Supreme Court overturns the convictions and orders a retrial
Dec 2006: Medics sentenced to death a second time
Feb 2007: Medics appeal to the Libyan Supreme Court
June 2007: Top EU officials hold talks in Libya to try to secure medics' release
11 July 2007: Libya's Supreme Court upholds death sentences.
Profile of the medics
Timeline: Medics trial
The six, who have been in prison since 1999, say they were tortured to confess.
Foreign experts say the infections started before the medics arrived at the hospital, and are more likely to have been a result of poor hygiene.
Bulgaria, its allies in the European Union, and the United States say Libya has used the case to deflect criticism from its run-down health service.
They have also suggested that not freeing the nurses could carry a diplomatic price for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is seeking to emerge from more than three decades of diplomatic isolation.
The Palestinian doctor has been granted Bulgarian citizenship to allow him to benefit from any transfer deal.
Foreign experts say the infections started before the medics arrived at the hospital, and are more likely to have been a result of poor hygiene.
Bulgaria, its allies in the European Union, and the United States say Libya has used the case to deflect criticism from its run-down health service.
They have also suggested that not freeing the nurses could carry a diplomatic price for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is seeking to emerge from more than three decades of diplomatic isolation.
The Palestinian doctor has been granted Bulgarian citizenship to allow him to benefit from any transfer deal.
posted by jackaranda at 10:53 am
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