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OVERSEAS REACTIONS The international community and medical authorities disputed the convictions and argued that the HIV infections were caused by pre-existing poor has said "I want them free." One of Gaddafi's sons has admitted at least some Libyan responsibility. On December 24 2005 it was announced that Libya, Bulgaria, the EU , and the US had agreed on a fund which may help to resolve the matter. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051225/ap_on_re_mi_ea/libya_aids_trial APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT The Libyan Supreme Court, having heard the appeal by the medics against their conviction, was originally due to deliver its judgment on 2004 when Bulgaria was celebrating major Christian festivities of St George's Day The Supreme Court duly quashed the death sentence imposed on the ''Benghazi Six'' and ordered a re-trial.[http://www.libyaonline.com/home/detail.php?news=202 QUID PRO QUO Although he concurred with the guilty verdict, Gaddafi had proposed releasing the six medics if, in return, the , it was announced that Libya had prepared a list of forty items (non-monetary) that should be sent as aid and that Bulgaria could supply twenty four of them {Link without Title} . CASE HISTORY The six accused were charged with:
The five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian Ashraf al-Hadjudj arrived in Libya in 1998 to treat pediatric patients. Initially twenty-three foreign medical personnel were arrested, most Bulgarian, but seventeen were released and have returned to Bulgaria. Additionally, eleven Libyan nationals were arrested and charged. A Bulgarian doctor, Zdravko Georgiev, was also convicted although of lesser crimes (illegal transactions with foreign exchange). Dr. Georgiev went to Libya to see his wife (Valtcheva); subsequently he was detained and tried, too. Georgiev was sentenced to four years in prison and served more than that before his release, but he remains in Libya awaiting an exit visa. Case 44/1999 of People's Court of Libya ( February 7 , 2000 - February 17 , 2002 ) The case began without Bulgaria being notified. It was suspended because the Court did not see any evidence for the accusation of Conspiracy against the country. The judge made a statement saying that the People's Court of Libya was incompetent with regard to the case. The People's Court of Libya is the lowest court in the three-level Libyan court system.
Case 213/2002 of the Criminal Court in Benghazi ( July 8 2003 - 2004 )
Case 607/2003 of the Criminal Court in Benghazi (200? – May 6 2004 ) The Criminal Court sentenced Kristiyana Valtcheva, Nasya Nenova, Valentina Siropulo, Valya Chervenyashka, Snezhana Dimitrova and Ashraf al-Hajuj to Death By Firing Squad for deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV. Kristiyana Valtcheva and Zdravko Georgiev were sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment and a fine on the charge of making illegal transactions with foreign exchange. Under the civil suit, the court obliged Ashraf al-Hajuj, Kristiyana Valtcheva and Nasya Nenova to pay compensations to the infected children's parents. Motivated complaints against the court's decision were lodged on July 5 2004 .
Case of the Supreme Court in Tripoli The Libyan Supreme Court heard the appeal of the cases beginning on March 29 2005 . On March 30 , prosecutors urged the court to revoke the death sentences and remand the case to the lower courts for retrial. Under Libyan law, the court cannot accept any new evidence, although the Bulgarian party argued that there had been wrongly interpreted evidence during the court sessions so far. The judgment was to have been handed down on May 31 2005 , but was postponed (with no reason given) until November 15 2005 —during the six month delay, the medics were to be allowed an extra room and daily walks. On that date, the judgment was again deferred (ostensibly to give the defense more time to prepare) until January 31 2006 . Then in late December the hearing was unexpectedly moved up to December 25 ( Christmas Day ) when the Supreme Court revoked the death sentences and ordered a new trial. In April 2006, the Bulgarian foreign ministry announced that the new trial in Tripoli would begin on May 11 , 2006 . {Link without Title} Counter-trial of police In an apparent bid to relax criticism of Libya, authorities arrested nine policemen and a doctor and charged them with Torture of the accused Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor in order to extract Confession s. Lawyers for the accused medical personnel have asked for 5 million Libyan Dinar s (approx. 3.7M USD/3.1M EUR) as compensation. Much of the evidence is based on medical reports prepared by authorities from Bulgaria. All of the accused Libyans deny the charges, and none of them were jailed. After several procedural delays, their trial began in late May 2005. On June 7 2005 the ten were all acquitted. Civil lawsuit The civil lawsuit was initiated by the relatives of a young HIV victim – the family says that their child was infected by the Bulgarians, and demands to receive a compensation of almost 12 million US dollars. The civil lawsuit against the six medics was postponed until December 27 2005 , which is expected to be after the conclusion of their last appeal trial {Link without Title} . As of October 1 2005 Libya has repeatedly stated that Bulgaria must negotiate with the victims' families, and Bulgaria and Western nations have repeatedly refused because to do so would admit guilt. Proposed deals to offer humanitarian assistance not admitting guilt have been rebuffed. A hearing was postponed on October 2 , and another was scheduled for December 27 - however, on December 17 the new hearing was further postponed until February 25 2006 [http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=56679 . INCENTIVES FOR A RESOLUTION On April 12 2005 , reports surfaced that Libya was considering a trade embargo with Bulgaria for what the Libyan government termed Bulgaria's failure to prevent the HIV outbreak. Although the case has resulted in tense diplomatic negotiations in the past, this move is considered an unexpected escalation by Libya. The reports were later denied by Libya. Libya has a motivation to resolve the case amicably with Europe in that it desires to join the EU's "Barcelona" trade partnership (see Barcelona Conference ). Executing the medics under the current perceptions would almost certainly have ruined any chances of Libya's joining in the foreseeable future. RELIEF (AND PROTESTS) OVER REPRIEVE On December 25 2005 Libya's supreme court overturned death sentences against the Benghazi Six, who had always denied intentionally infecting 426 children with HIV-contaminated blood. Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov said the court ruling "confirmed our hope that justice in this case will prevail". President Parvanov added: "The unfair death sentences were reversed....We hope that the swiftness and the effectiveness demonstrated by the Libyan court in the past days will help solve the case as soon as possible." US State Department spokesman, Justin Higgins, described the decision as a "positive development since it removes the risk of the death penalty being carried out. As we have made clear before, we believe a way should be found to allow the medics to return to their home". The Council Of Europe welcomed the decision and said it hoped the new trial will "comply with the internationally recognised standards of fairness and due process". However, parents and relatives of the 426 HIV-infected children—51 of whom are said to have died of AIDS—stood outside the supreme court protesting against the reprieve, and calling for the death penalty to be carried out. But Libyan prime minister, Shukri Ghanem , insisted that the fate of the Benghazi Six was entirely a ''juridical'' matter. In a statement broadcast on the Qatar TV channel Al Jazeera , Mr Ghanem said that all efforts should now be focused on the infected children, "who are subject to a death sentence each day". {Link without Title} On January 4 , 2006 the families of the infected children estimated their claims at USD $2.7 billion. {Link without Title} This occurred just before the visit of the French Foreign Minister to the Benghazi Six. EXTERNAL LINKS
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