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LIBYA–BULGARIA: HIV Death Sentences

LIBYA–BULGARIA: HIV Death Sentences Renewed relations with the West are soured. A Libyan court decision, on December 19th, to condemn to death five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on charges of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus, was greeted with widespread international condemnation. Franco Trattini , the European Union ( EU ) Justice Commissioner, said the Libyan court decision was ‘‘an obstacle to co‐operation with the EU’’. ‘‘I can't imagine that these executions will take place,’’ he said. ‘‘The Libyan leadership has the instruments to review this decision.’’ The Bulgarian authorities also called on the Libyan leadership to intervene at once. They said the trial was ‘‘completely warped’’ because it disregarded input from the international scientific community. ‘‘I wouldn't regard it as clear in any way that the sentences will be carried out,’’ said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. ‘‘The underlying problem is that the perception of this inside Libya is different. There, it is not a problem of the foreign medics but of hundreds of children who will probably die. There is huge anger, added to the fact that they have just seen the Lockerbie victims compensated at a rate of $10m a head.’’ Libya had demanded $10m in compensation for each child but Bulgaria refused, saying it would amount to an admission of guilt. The Arab League General Secretariat said on December 23rd it was following with concern developments regarding the death sentences. In a statement, the secretariat said though it fully understood the anguish of those convicted and their families, yet it urged all parties to refrain from politicising this case, especially as the convicts still had a chance to appeal. Libyan Justice Minister Ali al‐Hasnawi said there could be a ‘‘complete revision of the case’’. In the US , the White House said it was ‘‘disappointed’’, and in France President Jacques Chirac said he was ‘‘personally shocked’’ by the death penalty imposed on the six medics and said that France would continue its ‘‘active efforts to persuade’’ Libya to find ‘‘a solution in accordance with justice’’. However, despite the international reaction, Colonel Mouammar Gaddafy was stressing the ‘‘independence of the Libyan judicial system’’, and he rejected what he called ‘‘Western intervention and pressure in this affair’’. Those who committed crimes must accept the consequences, he said. Nevertheless, diplomats in Europe generally seem to see the sentences as a prelude to new contacts between the Libyan leader and Western governments. The colonel is seen by experts as using the ‘‘Benghazi Six’’ as a pawn in his discussions over contracts for oil, arms and aircraft, and Middle Eastern diplomacy. Franco Frattini commented, ‘‘You always have to wait for the last word in Libya, that of the Supreme Court in the case in point, and then there may also be a further possibility.’’ In order to grasp how tricky the issue is, it has to be borne in mind what Benghazi represents. It is Libya's second‐largest city, and its attitude to the Colonel is far from friendly. Its social fabric is based on the clan, and the illness of 426 children has affected the chief blood lines. Of the 84 ‘‘Muslim Brothers’’ arrested in the nineties and released in March, 55 were from Benghazi. The regime probably takes the view that there are a lot of people who would not stay the executioner's hand. And foreign pressure holds out a chance for the odd barter. ( Corriere della Sera, Milan 20/12; MENA news agency, Cairo 23/12 ; Agence France Presse, Paris 19/12; The Financial Times, London 20/12; BBC news online 30/12 ) Retrial p. 16769 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

LIBYA–BULGARIA: HIV Death Sentences

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2007.00743.x
Publisher site
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Abstract

Renewed relations with the West are soured. A Libyan court decision, on December 19th, to condemn to death five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on charges of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus, was greeted with widespread international condemnation. Franco Trattini , the European Union ( EU ) Justice Commissioner, said the Libyan court decision was ‘‘an obstacle to co‐operation with the EU’’. ‘‘I can't imagine that these executions will take place,’’ he said. ‘‘The Libyan leadership has the instruments to review this decision.’’ The Bulgarian authorities also called on the Libyan leadership to intervene at once. They said the trial was ‘‘completely warped’’ because it disregarded input from the international scientific community. ‘‘I wouldn't regard it as clear in any way that the sentences will be carried out,’’ said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. ‘‘The underlying problem is that the perception of this inside Libya is different. There, it is not a problem of the foreign medics but of hundreds of children who will probably die. There is huge anger, added to the fact that they have just seen the Lockerbie victims compensated at a rate of $10m a head.’’ Libya had demanded $10m in compensation for each child but Bulgaria refused, saying it would amount to an admission of guilt. The Arab League General Secretariat said on December 23rd it was following with concern developments regarding the death sentences. In a statement, the secretariat said though it fully understood the anguish of those convicted and their families, yet it urged all parties to refrain from politicising this case, especially as the convicts still had a chance to appeal. Libyan Justice Minister Ali al‐Hasnawi said there could be a ‘‘complete revision of the case’’. In the US , the White House said it was ‘‘disappointed’’, and in France President Jacques Chirac said he was ‘‘personally shocked’’ by the death penalty imposed on the six medics and said that France would continue its ‘‘active efforts to persuade’’ Libya to find ‘‘a solution in accordance with justice’’. However, despite the international reaction, Colonel Mouammar Gaddafy was stressing the ‘‘independence of the Libyan judicial system’’, and he rejected what he called ‘‘Western intervention and pressure in this affair’’. Those who committed crimes must accept the consequences, he said. Nevertheless, diplomats in Europe generally seem to see the sentences as a prelude to new contacts between the Libyan leader and Western governments. The colonel is seen by experts as using the ‘‘Benghazi Six’’ as a pawn in his discussions over contracts for oil, arms and aircraft, and Middle Eastern diplomacy. Franco Frattini commented, ‘‘You always have to wait for the last word in Libya, that of the Supreme Court in the case in point, and then there may also be a further possibility.’’ In order to grasp how tricky the issue is, it has to be borne in mind what Benghazi represents. It is Libya's second‐largest city, and its attitude to the Colonel is far from friendly. Its social fabric is based on the clan, and the illness of 426 children has affected the chief blood lines. Of the 84 ‘‘Muslim Brothers’’ arrested in the nineties and released in March, 55 were from Benghazi. The regime probably takes the view that there are a lot of people who would not stay the executioner's hand. And foreign pressure holds out a chance for the odd barter. ( Corriere della Sera, Milan 20/12; MENA news agency, Cairo 23/12 ; Agence France Presse, Paris 19/12; The Financial Times, London 20/12; BBC news online 30/12 ) Retrial p. 16769

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 2007

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