Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 20, 2004
The nurses were sentenced in May for allegedly infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV as part of an experiment to find a cure for AIDS -- a charge human rights groups allege Libya concocted to cover up unhygienic practices in its hospitals.
"One possible compensation claim would be against the Libyan state for the nurses' illegal arrest ... and the other would be against their torturers," Justice Minister Anton Stankov told reporters Monday.
Two of the nurses -- all of whom are women -- say they were raped in prison, and all say they were jolted with electricity and beaten before their trial.
Under Bulgarian law, foreign states and individuals can be sued in Bulgaria for actions taken against Bulgarians on foreign soil. But Stankov did not say when or where the compensation claims would be filed or if the nurses planned to file their claims from prison.
Stankov is leading the Bulgarian effort to free the nurses.
Earlier in December, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalqam suggested the death sentences could be reconsidered if compensation was paid to the families of the victims.
But Bulgarian authorities have ruled out paying any compensation, and it is unclear whether the nurses will be released.
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