A Libyan court on Monday postponed the trial of six Bulgarian medics accused of intentionally infecting more than 400 children with the AIDS virus. Nine Libyan medics also are on trial, charged with negligence. The verdicts — and possible sentencing — could come when the trial resumes Jan. 26, said the officials. International observers are monitoring the trial in the coastal city of Benghazi, where the Bulgarians — five nurses and a doctor — were employed at a hospital when arrested in February 1999. Prosecutors have demanded death sentences, accusing the Bulgarians 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. Initially Libya claimed the infections were part of a conspiracy by the CIA and Israeli intelligence but has since backed away from those allegations.
| And now we're down to Bulgarian intelligence? |
All six medics have pleaded innocent, and experts for the defense have argued poor hygiene likely led to the contamination. Bulgaria has asked Libya to let international experts investigate the case and testify in the trial. According to a Bulgarian radio report Monday, the court granted a request by defense lawyers to submit a new expert assessment at the next hearing. The Bulgarians hope Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi will pardon them as part of his newly emerging effort to make peace with the West. The trial is nearing its end as Gadhafi seeks to end decades as an international pariah. The Bulgarians were in prison until September 2002, when a high tribunal in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, acquitted them of conspiracy charges and handed the case over to an ordinary criminal court. Since then, the six have been under house arrest. They have complained of severe torture during police interrogation, saying they were jolted with electricity, beaten with sticks and repeatedly jumped on while strapped to their beds. Two of the women said they were raped.
| Looks like that "joining the international community" stuff still needs work... |
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