Give the Innocent Nurses in Libya the Right to an Independent Trial

Six healthcare workers, Christiana, Valia, Nasia, Valentina, Snezhana and Ashraf, were found guilty of deliberately starting an HIV outbreak at a hospital in Benghazi in eastern Libya.

The Libyan court refused to pay attention on the accumulated medical data which proves their innocence. International experts such as Dr. Luc Montagnier, the eminent discoverer of the AIDS virus, traveled to Libya to study the situation. He and others testified that the infection started prior the arrival of the six. He found that the infections were a result of poor sanitary practices at the hospital.

The death sentence is supposed to be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Libya but the Bulgarian attorneys have been denied access to the prison since the last court hearing. The resolution passed by the European Parliament in January 2007 was accepted negatively by Tripoli. There is even a new charge against the medics - this time for slander against Libyan policemen.

Libya is convinced that the six foreigners are worthy of blame. The rest of the world is convinced that the fault is in the poor hospital hygiene.

This makes the situation extremely delicate.

However, a possible solution would be to refer the trial to the International Court of Justice in the Hague or to a third, disinterested party. It would have the additional benefit of making the case less political by leaving it in the hands of an independent court. In this way the diplomatic and economical relations between Libya and the rest of the world would also stay autonomous of the issue.

Please give Christiana Malinova Valcheva, Valia Georgieva Cherveniashka, Nasia Stoitcheva Nenova, Valentina Manolova Siropulo and Snezhana Ivanova Dimitrova from Bulgaraia, and Ashraf Ahmad Jum'a from Palestina the right to an independent trial.

NOTE: News regarding the issue is daily updated at the Petition's Forum.