By Martin Banks - 8th March 2007
The EU was today urged to do more to secure the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with HIV.
The six were sentenced to death for a second time in December by a court in Libya.
Speaking in Brussels today, Bulgarian information and communications minister Plamen Vatchkov said the EU could have done more to secure the release of the jail medics.
“The perception in Bulgaria is that the EU and US have not done as much as they could have on this issue for fear of jeopardising their economic interests in Libya,” he said.
“This is totally unacceptable and we are looking to the EU and its member states to do more to help free these people.”
Vatchkov was in Brussels as part of a Bulgarian government delegation attending an event organised by Microsoft to highlight technological advances in Bulgaria.
The high-level delegation hopes to use the visit to apply pressure on the EU to act over the jailed medics.
“These medics are not guilty of any offence and should be freed as soon as possible and that is the message I will be conveying,” he said.
The six medics deny infecting 426 children with HIV at the hospital in the late 1990s. More than 50 have since died but many western diplomats believe poor hygiene standards were responsible for the infections.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.