Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov pardoned the six medics 45 minutes after they touched home soil at the Sofia international airport.

Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin read the presidential decree at the press conference after welcoming the medics back to Bulgaria.

"Certain of their innocence, in accordance with the powers vested in him, President Parvanov pardons the medics," Kalfin said.

The five nurses and the Palestinian doctor, who has received Bulgarian citizenship in the meantime, were allowed to leave Libya in the early hours of Tuesday, where they were jailed for more than eight years over accusations for the deliberate infection of 426 Libyan children with HIV.

The six medics are expected at the presidential residence in Boyana, where they will undergo a medical exam.

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