Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; Thursday, September 10, 1998
The trial will be held before a special Court of Justice of the Republic, which judges officials for crimes in office, judicial sources said Thursday. It will be the first time the court sits to judge former ministers.
Facing trial are former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, former Health Minister Edmond Herve and Georgina Dufoix, former Social Affairs Minister, who served from 1984-1986 under President Francois Mitterrand.
The ministers are charged with involuntary homicide in connection with the deaths of seven people who received blood contaminated with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. The seven are among about 1,000 hemophiliacs infected by the virus through transfusions. About half of them have died.
If convicted, the three face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $130,000 in fines.
The prosecution contends the ministers kept a U.S.-made AIDS test off the French market while the France-based Pasteur Institute was perfecting its own test.
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