EU verheugd over Libië's beslissing om ter dood veroordeelde Bulgaarse medici opnieuw voor de rechter te brengen (en)

The European Union has hailed the ruling of the Libyan supreme court to retry five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, sentenced to death after being convicted of deliberately infecting 426 Libyan children with HIV.

"It is good news that death sentences against the medical workers have not been confirmed. We hope today's decision can lead to a rapid and fair settlement to all concerned," said the European Commission's spokeswoman on Sunday (25 December), Reuters reported.

Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov commented "The supreme court's decision confirmed our hope that justice in this case will prevail... We hope that the quick and efficient work of the court in recent days will allow the case to be closed soon."

The Libyan court admitted that there had been "irregularities" in the previous trial of the medics in Benghazi where the hospital affected by the 1990s HIV outbreak was located.

The nurses and the doctor had been reportedly tortured to confess their alleged wrongdoing, and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi himself noted in November that the confessions would be invalid if they were made under duress.

The court's ruling has sparked widespread anger in the country and demonstrations by many of the parents, but the EU and international organisations have expressed their relief.

"We never forget the suffering of those affected by the Benghazi tragedy, and we are pleased that progress has been made over recent days towards the setting up of a fund to help improve support for the families," said the commission's spokeswoman.

She referred to the fund for the Libyan children set up by international NGOs to pay for their medical treatment abroad, as well as for a financial boost to the hospital in Benghazi and other financial payments.

Compensation talks suspended

However, the talks on the compensations to the affected families are still proving difficult.

Just one day after the court's decision, Tripolis suspended the negotiations carried out since early December between the Libyan families, a Bulgarian NGO and an EU representative.

There were demands of $10 million in blood money for the family of each victim, upon which the three parties failed to agree, according to BBC.

Both EU and US diplomats have increased pressure in the past few months to secure the medics' release, who have been in jail since February 1999.

The decision to restart the lawsuit from scratch was viewed as the most desirable for the prisoners, as new evidence would be taken into consideration.

Bulgarians hope the new trial will be held in a different city, as public opinion is very negative in Benghazi.

The indictment against the Bulgarians claimed they followed orders from the CIA and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to deliberately infect people, mainly children, with the virus.

The Libyan court previously ignored an expert's report, which argued the HIV infection had broken out at the Benghazi hospital one year before the Bulgarians took up their jobs.