Official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko said this answering to the question from the Bulgarian National Radio concerning the death sentence passed in Libya for the Bulgarian doctors, RIA Novosti learnt from the ministerial Press and Information Board.
On May 6 the Benghazi court passed a death sentence for five Bulgarian doctors working on contract in the local children's hospital. They are charged with being guilty for infecting 393 Libyan children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
"According to our information, lawyers for the Bulgarian medics are going to take an appeal from the decision at the Supreme Court of Libya. Russia hopes that an additional trial in Tripoli, where all the facts and opinions of the involved are thoroughly considered and taken into account, will preserve the life of the Bulgarian medics", Alexander Yakovenko said.
The case was initiated in 1997, when the children getting inoculations and blood transfusion at the Al-Fatih hospital were found to have HIV. Eight of them have died. The AIDS has been discovered in 19 mothers of the infected children.
Investigation has established that a Bulgarian pediatrician had arranged the arrival of donor blood from an African country. His wife took the blood from local children having AIDS paying them one dollar per doze. The AIDS blood replaced good blood, which was later sold.
