A Libyan court on Thursday sentenced six Bulgarian medics to death on charges that they intentionally infected more than 400 children with the AIDS virus.
The trial was held in the coastal city of Benghazi, where the Bulgarians - five nurses and a doctor - were employed at a hospital when they were detained in February 1999. Bulgaria has claimed they have been tortured in Libyan custody.
The Bulgarians were accused of intentionally infecting the children with HIV-contaminated blood as part of an experiment to find a cure for AIDS. Twenty-three of the children reportedly have since died of AIDS.
All six had pleaded innocent, and experts for the defense have argued poor hygiene likely led to the contamination.
The speaker of Bulgaria's parliament, Ognyan Gerdzhikov, said that the verdicts will be appealed. Under Libyan law, people to condemned to death automatically have the right to appeal. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
