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Six medics return to Bulgaria

Bulgarian nurses Valentina Manolova Siropulo, left, Nasia Stoitcheva Nenova, second left, Snezhana Ivanova Dimitrova, fourth left, and Valia Georgieva Chervenisahka hug unidentified relatives before the French presidential plane shortly after their arrival yesterday at Sofia airport. PHOTO: AFP

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were pardoned by President Georgi Parvanov on arrival in Sofia yesterday, after spending eight-and-a-half years in prison in Libya.

The medics, sentenced to life in prison in Libya for contaminating children with the AIDS virus, arrived on board a plane with French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and the EU's commissioner for foreign affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The six came down the steps from the airplane and were welcomed on the tarmac by family members who hugged them, one lifting the Palestinian doctor off the ground.

"I waited so long for this moment," nurse Snezhana Dimitrova said before falling in the arms of her loved ones.

Libya accused the six of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV. Jailed since 1999, they deny infecting the children and say their confessions were extracted under torture.

The deal for the medics' release included measures to improve the medical care of children with AIDS in Libya, the French presidential palace said, without giving details.

"The return of the medics is a direct result of Bulgaria's membership in the European Union, of the solidarity which the EU showed Bulgaria," Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said at the airport.

Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin announced after the medics' arrival that President Parvanov had signed a decree to pardon the five nurses and the Palestinian doctor, who was granted Bulgarian citizenship in June.

"Led by the firm conviction in the innocence of the Bulgarian citizens sentenced in Libya and fulfilling his constitutional rights, the President signed a decree for pardon and releases them of their sentences," Kalfin said.

Parvanov expressed satisfaction with the long-awaited return.

"The dramatic case with the sentenced innocent Bulgarian citizens is at its end," President Georgi Parvanov's press office said.

"We are still sympathetic with the other tragedy -- the one of the infected Libyan children and their families," Parvanov added.

Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso "welcome the gesture of humanity by Libya's highest leader and are committed to doing everything to help children with AIDS," the French statement said. They also expressed gratitude to Qatar for mediating the case.

Ferrero-Waldner welcomed the Libyan government's decision to transfer the Bulgarian medical personnel to Bulgaria.

"I share the joy of their families and friends and of the government and people of Bulgaria. For over eight years, we have never forgotten the suffering of the medical staff who have shown such dignity and fortitude during their long ordeal," Ferrero-Waldner said.

She said that the outcome was "the result of sustained joint efforts by the EU bringing together the Bulgarian authorities, consecutive EU presidencies, and a number of other member states."

"This demonstrates the value of concerted EU action," she said.

Ferrero-Waldner also said that the decision will open the way for a new and enhanced relationship between the EU and Libya.

"At the same time, my thoughts are also with the Benghazi children and their families, and I will continue to give my support to them all," she said.

Bulgaria made an official request on Thursday for Tripoli to repatriate the medics to serve their sentences in Bulgaria. It granted citizenship to the Palestinian doctor, Ashraf al-Hazouz, last month.
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