Bulgarians campaign for release of jailed nurses in Libya AIDS case

SOFIA – Bulgarians around the country are showing their support for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya after they were convicted of infecting children with AIDS, pollsters said Monday.

A court in Tripoli last month convicted the nurses and a Palestinian doctor of intentionally infecting the Libyan children, despite scientific evidence the youngsters had the virus before the medical workers arrived in Libya. The verdicts outraged many in Bulgaria, and “the salvation of the Bulgarian nurses became a cause that united the whole nation,” wrote Capital weekly on Sunday.Lawmakers and top officials, including President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, started wearing ribbons with the colours of Bulgaria’s national flag and a ‘You are not alone’ inscription as a sign of solidarity with the nurses.Civil groups organise daily protests, and the white-green-and-red ribbons could be seen in the streets, in shops, on cars and even in some schools.The AFIS polling agency, which surveyed 1 000 people across the country between January 10-13 said Monday that some 39 per cent of those asked have actively joined the solidarity campaign.No margin of error was given, but in a poll of that size it would be plus or minus three percentage points.”In Sofia and the larger cities, the share of actively involved people reaches 58 per cent,” said Chavdar Naydenov of the AFIS agency.At last week’s solemn session to celebrate Bulgaria’s EU entry on January 1, all lawmakers wore dark clothes and solidarity ribbons.”The campaign offers great support for (the nurses),” said Zdravko Georgiev, the husband of one of the nurses, Kristiana Valcheva.”Now they think this is their only hope.”The five nurses and the Palestinian doctor have been in Libyan jail for eight years.They are awaiting the appeal of their convictions and death sentences before Libya’s supreme court.In Bulgaria, however, people seemed to pin their hopes on the international pressure on Libya, analysts say.”The predominant opinion of people is that foreign factors will bring about a solution,” said analyst Rumyana Bachvarova.According to a January survey by the Market Links agency, almost a quarter of Bulgarians believe the nurses could be freed as a result of political pressure by the European Union and the United States.Washington and the EU have expressed shock and disappointment with the verdicts, and have called on Libya to free the nurses and the doctor.Nampa-APThe verdicts outraged many in Bulgaria, and “the salvation of the Bulgarian nurses became a cause that united the whole nation,” wrote Capital weekly on Sunday.Lawmakers and top officials, including President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, started wearing ribbons with the colours of Bulgaria’s national flag and a ‘You are not alone’ inscription as a sign of solidarity with the nurses.Civil groups organise daily protests, and the white-green-and-red ribbons could be seen in the streets, in shops, on cars and even in some schools.The AFIS polling agency, which surveyed 1 000 people across the country between January 10-13 said Monday that some 39 per cent of those asked have actively joined the solidarity campaign.No margin of error was given, but in a poll of that size it would be plus or minus three percentage points.”In Sofia and the larger cities, the share of actively involved people reaches 58 per cent,” said Chavdar Naydenov of the AFIS agency.At last week’s solemn session to celebrate Bulgaria’s EU entry on January 1, all lawmakers wore dark clothes and solidarity ribbons.”The campaign offers great support for (the nurses),” said Zdravko Georgiev, the husband of one of the nurses, Kristiana Valcheva.”Now they think this is their only hope.”The five nurses and the Palestinian doctor have been in Libyan jail for eight years.They are awaiting the appeal of their convictions and death sentences before Libya’s supreme court.In Bulgaria, however, people seemed to pin their hopes on the international pressure on Libya, analysts say.”The predominant opinion of people is that foreign factors will bring about a solution,” said analyst Rumyana Bachvarova.According to a January survey by the Market Links agency, almost a quarter of Bulgarians believe the nurses could be freed as a result of political pressure by the European Union and the United States.Washington and the EU have expressed shock and disappointment with the verdicts, and have called on Libya to free the nurses and the doctor.Nampa-AP