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"Libya quashes death sentences in AIDS
trial"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(27/12/05)
TRIPOLI: Libya's supreme court on Sunday ordered a retrial for five
Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for their
alleged role in infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV.
The decision overturned death sentences that would have been carried out by
firing squad, and gave the nurses and their supporters new hope that after
seven years behind bars they could one day be released.
“The court has accepted the appeal of the Bulgarian nurses and ordered that
a new trial take place at the criminal court of Benghazi,” where the
infections took place, court President Ali al-Alus said.
The ruling had been postponed until Jan 31, but Libya was keen to speed up
the process as it seeks to return to the international fold following leader
Muammar Gaddafi's renouncement of weapons of mass destruction two years ago.
The move was quickly welcomed by Bulgaria, the United States and the Council
of Europe.
“We hope that the swiftness and the effectiveness demonstrated by the Libyan
court in the past days will help to solve the case as soon as possible,”
Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov said. — AFP
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