Gaddafi will not free Aids medics from Bulgaria

[Caldric]

I had never heard of this event before. I just seen it this morning on the BBC. Rather strange. Now if they are guilty I would not release them either. Considering Libya has not always been on the side of truth I kind of find it hard to swallow that these people murdered children by injecting them with AIDS virus for experiments.

Anyway here you go, good thing about the BBC is on the right side of the page it has historical news of the issue.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4376551.stm

Gaddafi will not free Aids medics

The medics have been sentenced to death by firing squad

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has vowed not to pardon five Bulgarian nurses facing the death penalty for allegedly injecting children with the HIV virus.

"I swear by Allah that I will not release the Bulgarians," he said, adding he was tired of Western countries asking Libya to free them.

"How can we free the murderers of children?" he asked.

Meanwhile, the trial of 10 Libyan policemen who the nurses claim tortured them into confessing has been delayed.

A Tripoli judge adjourned the case until 26 April due to absences among defence team members.

The five nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who have been detained for five years, insist they are innocent.

According to the Benghazi court which issued the death verdict, the six deliberately infected 426 Libyan children as part of an experiment to find a cure for the deadly disease.

Forty seven of them later died.

Compensation

Two nurses and a doctor who had initially confessed later said they had been beaten and given electric shocks by police officers until they admitted their guilt.

But the trial of the 10 policemen, which some say is meant to defuse criticism of the way Libya has handled the case, has now been postponed for the second time.

The controversial affair has sparked protests in Europe and the US, and is one of the major obstacles in Libya's bid to overcome its diplomatic isolation.

In December last year, Libya said it would consider freeing the nurses if Bulgaria was ready to compensate the victims.

But Bulgaria has since refused on the grounds that a payout would be tantamount to admitting the medics' guilt.

EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has said that a conclusion to the HIV affair "would also be very good for the Libyans".

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Caldric

I had never heard of this event before. I just seen it this morning on the BBC. Rather strange. Now if they are guilty I would not release them either. Considering Libya has not always been on the side of truth I kind of find it hard to swallow that these people murdered children by injecting them with AIDS virus for experiments.

So do I, Caldric, especially when true torture was used to get a confession from them.

EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has said that a conclusion to the HIV affair "would also be very good for the Libyans".

"A" conclusion will not be good for anyone. A just and true conclusion is what is needed here.

[JohnRN]

In December last year, Libya said it would consider freeing the nurses if Bulgaria was ready to compensate the victims.

There's your answer Caldric...

[Woodmonkey]

Good catch, John. I keep reading about the history of kidnapping for ransom in that part of the world and it being a part of their culture. This is appears to be another form of it.

[Caldric]

Originally Posted by John.

There's your answer Caldric...

Yes and they want Bulgaria to also build a hospital in reparations also... They stated that in one of the little older stories there on the website.