Libyan leader colonel Muammar Gadaffi said that last Friday the trial of six Bulgarian medics charged with intentionally infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus will have an international scope similar to that of the Lockerbie affair.
Gadaffi was reported by Libyan and international media to have said that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world. His comments were made at the final meeting of the African AIDS Summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Lockerbie affair occurred when two Libyan nationals were charged with placing an explosive device on Pan Am Flight 103 from London's Heathrow airport to JFK airport in New York, in December 1988. Only one was found guilty in January this year. The bomb resulted in 270 deaths as the plane fell to the ground in Lockerbie, near the Scottish border. At the request of Libya, the accused were tried at a neutral location, the Netherlands, by a panel of Scottish judges under Scottish criminal law and procedure.
Gadaffi claimed that a doctor and a group of nurses had been detected at the Benghazi Children's Hospital in the possession of the AIDS virus. He alleged they had been asked by the CIA or Mossad (the Israeli intelligence service) to experiment on the virus' impact. Gadaffi added that he had physical evidence that the medical workers in question were responsible for infecting 400 children with the HIV virus.
His comments came a day before the trial against the Bulgarian medics was postponed for the 11th time after a five-minute session. The Libyan People's Court appointed a new session for May 13, stating this would be the last delay.
The postponement was requested by Vladimir Sheitanov, the Bulgarian lawyer of the six accused. The Bulgarians' other lawyer, Libyan Osman Bizanti, requested that his clients be heard in court, instead of the court working only with their confessions, made in front of the investigation services.
Doctor Zdravko Georgiev and nurses Kristiana Vulcheva, Nasia Nenova, Valentina Siropulo, Valia Cherveniashka, and Snezhana Dimitrova have been held in pre-trial custody in Libya since February 1999. They have been charged with intentionally infecting 393 Libyan children with the HIV virus, and with intentional murder and conspiracy against the Libyan state.
All of these crimes are punishable by death according to Libyan law. The six Bulgarians have also been charged with adultery, currency trade, and production, distribution and use of alcohol.
Marin Raikov, Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister, commented on the Libyan leader's speech on Monday: "If this statement has been made as reported, it will affect dramatically the framework of the bilateral agreements in connection with the trial. It was agreed with the Libyan side that the trial would be transparent, depoliticised, and fair. The refusal to admit journalists to the latest court hearing on April 28 casts a shadow over the transparency of the trial. The statement in Abuja makes its depoliticised nature questionable."
Such a statement raises doubts about the court's independence, added Raikov. "It rules out the presumption of innocence, which is an essential prerequisite for a fair trial. We hope that the Abuja statement was misreported by the Libyan media. In any case, we are concerned and will have to hold new talks with the Libyan side in connection with the case of our compatriots in Libya."