The campaign in support of five Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya, to become elected to the EP is gathering momentum, with signatures being collected across the country.

Bulgaria's right-wing party "Order, Rule of Law and Justice" has vowed to put the five nurses and a doctor, acquitted on the same charges, top of its MEP ticket.

The nurses themselves have embraced the idea and have already agreed to run as MEP candidates.

Bulgaria's socialists, who lead in the polls before the May 20 vote, have harshly criticized the campaign calling it populist and obscene.

Opponents of the campaign say the move poses a huge risk as it is not realistic to expect all six medics getting elected, which may give a powerful advantage to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Furthermore, 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.

Bulgarian lawmakers have already shot down the idea of amending the electoral law to allow the medics to run for the European parliament.

The five Bulgarian nurses have been accused of deliberately starting a HIV epidemic in the children's hospital ward in Benghazi and have spent the past eight years in a Libyan jail.

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