Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - July 18, 2007
All six were sentenced to death after being convicted but in July 2007 their sentences were commuted to life in prison after the families of the children agreed to accept compensation believed to be worth $1m (500,000 pounds) per child.
Q: How long have they been in custody?
They were arrested in Benghazi in February 1999 along with 13 others, who were later released. Their trial began a year later and they were convicted in 2004.
Q: What happens now?
Libya has said it may consider transferring the medics to Bulgaria but adds that the conditions of the infected children and their families still need to be "improved". Bulgaria has begun working for their return. Having recently been made a Bulgarian citizen, the trainee doctor among the six could also be transferred. Once in Bulgaria, it is possible they will all be pardoned by the country's president.
Q: Who paid the compensation?
It is unclear exactly where the money came from. According to Libyan reports, it came from a fund set up by Libya and the EU in 2005. However, Bulgaria says it will not pay compensation as this would constitute an admission of its citizens' guilt, which it strenuously denies. Under Islamic law, victims' relatives can withdraw death sentences in return for reparations.
Q: How reliable are the convictions?
They six retracted early confessions, saying they had been made under torture (police officers accused of torturing them were acquitted in a separate trial). The case against them has been taken apart by international experts including Luc Montagnier, the French co-discoverer of HIV. They testified that the HIV infections pre-dated the defendants' arrival in Benghazi in 1998 and that the probable real cause was poor standards of hospital hygiene. However, the testimony was disregarded by the court.
Q: How sensitive has the case been for Libya?
Some of the surviving infected children and their families repeatedly called for the verdicts - death by firing squad - to be carried out. The Benghazi region, with its strong tribal traditions and potential for Islamic radicalism, has represented something of a problem for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. At the same time, Mr Gaddafi has been working on his country's international rehabilitation, which has advanced in recent years following his compliance with the Lockerbie judgement and Libya's announcement that it was abandoning its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. But Libya's leader does not want to be seen to be acting under foreign pressure.
Q: How has Bulgaria handled the case?
A high-profile campaign was launched in Bulgaria in late 2006 for the release of the six. But some of the families have accused the government of acting too late, and one family member has said he hopes to initiate court proceedings against two former foreign ministers and others for failing to secure the release.
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