Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 19, 2006
Khaled El-Deeb and Willa Thayer
"God is great!" yelled Ibrahim Mohammed al-Aurabi, the father of an infected child, as soon as the presiding judge finished reading the verdict in the Tripoli courtroom. "Long live the Libyan judiciary!"
Bulgaria swiftly condemned the decision, and reiterated its belief that the children were infected by unhygienic conditions in their Benghazi hospital. "Sentencing innocent people to death is an attempt to cover up the real culprits and the real reasons for the AIDS outbreak in Benghazi," said parliamentary speaker Georgi Pirinski.
The Bulgarian and Palestinian defendants didn't react as the judgment was delivered. They have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Presiding Judge Mahmoud Hawissa took only seven minutes to confirm the presence of the accused and read out his verdict and sentence in the longest and most politicized court process in modern Libyan history. The six defendants, detained for nearly seven years, had previously been convicted and condemned to death, but Libyan judges granted them a retrial last year after international protests over the fairness of the proceedings.
An international legal observer, Francois Cantier of Lawyers Without Borders, promptly criticized the retrial for failing to admit enough scientific evidence. Research published this month said samples from the infected children showed their viruses were contracted before the six defendants started working at the hospital in question. "We need scientific evidence. It is a medical issue, not only a judicial one," Mr. Cantier said at the court after the verdict.
Luc Montagnier, the French doctor who was a codiscoverer of the human immune-deficiency virus, testified in the first trial that the deadly virus was active in the hospital before the Bulgarian nurses began their contracts there in 1998. More evidence surfaced Dec. 6 -- too late to be submitted in court -- when Nature magazine published an analysis of HIV and hepatitis virus samples from the children. Using changes in the genetic information of HIV over time as a "molecular clock," the analysts concluded that the virus was contracted before the six defendants arrived at the hospital -- perhaps even three years before.
Idriss Lagha, the president of a group representing the victims, rejected the Nature article, telling a press conference in London on Monday that the nurses had infected the children with a "genetically engineered" virus. He accused them as doing so for research on behalf of foreign intelligence agencies.
When the defendants were allowed to give evidence last month, they denied intentionally infecting children. "No doctor or nurse would dare commit such a dreadful crime," said nurse Cristiana Valcheva, adding that she sympathized with the victims and their families.
The long trial of the six foreign medical workers has held up the efforts of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to rebuild ties with the West. Europe and the U.S. and international rights groups have accused Libya of prosecuting the six foreign staff as scapegoats for dirty conditions at the Benghazi children's hospital.
"The court has not taken into account the unquestionable judicial and scientific evidences for the innocence of the medics," said Bulgaria's Mr. Pirinski.
Europe and the U.S. have called for the medics' release, indicating that future relations with Libya would be affected by the verdict. But Libyans strongly supported a conviction. Mr. Gadhafi, who has been trying to refashion his image from leader of a rogue state, got his government to ask Bulgaria to pay compensation to the children's families. But Sofia rejected the idea as indicating an admission of the nurses' guilt.
061219
AP061240
Copyright © 2006 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .