afrol News, 18 July - Bulgarian authorities will soon write to their Libyan counterparts, requesting the return of the six convicted medics. Libya’s High Judicial Court had overturned the medics’ death sentence to life imprisonment for infecting 483 Libyan children with HIV/AIDS. This development came on the heels of condemnations and appeals.

Bulgarian chief prosecutor, Boris Velchev, on Wednesday announced that soon an official request would be sent to Libyan authorities concerning the transfer of the medics, which is in line with an agreement the two countries signed in 1984.

But according to the Libyan Foreign Minister, Abdel-Rahman Shalqam, Tripoli is now waiting for the European Union and Bulgaria regarding the treatment of the infected children.

Bulgarian Prime Minister, Sergei Sergei Stanishev, today told journalists that his country would only close the case after the return of the convicts to Bulgaria.

The Libyan court also cleared defamation charges against the medics. The charges were filed by a senior Libyan police officer after the medical professionals accused the police of torturing them.

Over 50 of the infected children have died, but the Bulgarian medics denied the charges.

The case was overturned after a compensation agreement was reached with the parents of the victims. In that, each child would get US $1 million to be paid by an international fund.

Diplomatic efforts around the issue are still ongoing, with the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi inviting the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to help douse the smoking surrounding the issue which had been making headlines since 1999.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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