The five Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya, have officially agreed to run for MEPs on the ticket of the party of former constitutional judge and failed right-wing presidential candidate Georgi Markov.

The nurses' willingness to represent "Order, Rule of Law and Justice" party was expressed in a written form in a document and handed to lawyer Hari Haralampiev, who returned to Bulgaria on Tuesday.

A day earlier the initiative committee that launched the campaign asked Bulgarian lawmakers to pass an amendment to the European Parliament elections law, allowing five Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya to stand as MEP candidate.

The idea has gained wide support in Bulgaria and was also embraced by the five nurses and Zdravko Zhivkov, acquitted of the same charges.

However, the existing legislation precludes Bulgarian citizens who have not lived in the country for the three months prior to the elections from voting or running for an MEP seat.

The initiative committee is asking MPs now to adopt an amendment to strike down this requirement.

The five Bulgarian nurses have spent the past eight years in a Libyan jail and this prevents them from taking part in the upcoming May 20 elections. They have been accused of deliberately starting a HIV epidemic in the children's hospital ward in Benghazi.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!