BBC: Court to Uphold Death Sentences for Bulgarian Nurses

Politics | July 11, 2007, Wednesday // 00:00

Libya's Supreme Court is expected to uphold the verdicts of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV, BBC reported.

Libya's Supreme Court is due to rule on the case of foreign medics on death row for infecting 438 children with HIV.

The article comments that while the court is expected to uphold the verdicts, it may also leave a final decision to the High Judicial Council or commute the death sentences in exchange for a compensation package for the children's families.

Fifty-six of the 438 children infected with tainted blood at the Benghazi hospital in 1998 have since died.

The six medics were found guilty and sentenced to death twice, first in 2004 and again in 2006 following a court appeal. It is their final appeal in the case which has gripped public attention in both Libya and Bulgaria.

The government in Tripoli is caught between its wish to repair ties with the West and to defend its own legal system, the BBC's Nick Thorpe says.

BBC comments that in recent months, the European Union has stepped up diplomatic efforts to have the medics freed.

The United States has also been involved, with President George W Bush appealing for the release of the medics in June.

On the Libyan side, the families of the infected children have demanded the maximum punishment.

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

Politics » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria