SOFIA, Bulgaria — Six medics sentenced to life in prison in Libya for purportedly infecting children with HIV came home to Bulgaria yesterday and were greeted with tears and hugs — and a presidential pardon that allowed them to walk free after 8½ years behind bars.
The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were flown from Tripoli to the jubilant welcome in Sofia on board a plane with French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and the European Union”s commissioner for foreign affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
EU officials said the bloc would move to improve trade and political ties with Libya after the release.
Libya had accused the six of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV. Fifty of the children died. The medics, in prison since 1999, deny infecting the children and say their confessions were extracted under torture.
The six originally had been sentenced to death, but that was later commuted to life in prison. Last week, Tripoli agreed to a Bulgarian request to allow the six to serve the rest of their sentence at home.
“Led by the firm conviction in the innocence of the Bulgarian citizens sentenced in Libya and fulfilling his constitutional rights, the president signed a decree for pardon and releases them of their sentences,” Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said.
The six came down the steps from the airplane and were welcomed on the tarmac by family members, who hugged them. One lifted the Palestinian doctor, Ashraf al-Hazouz, off the ground. Bulgaria granted him citizenship last month.
The five Bulgarian nurses traveled to Libya nearly a decade ago, attracted by promises of higher-paying jobs. They were sent through a Bulgarian recruitment agency to al-Fath Children”s Hospital in Libya”s second largest city, Benghazi. The nurses were arrested the year after their arrival.
Along with the release, Libya and the European Union agreed to develop a “full partnership.” The Europeans promised a package of aid to develop Libyan hospitals and other infrastructure, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul-Rahman Shalqam said.
Mr. Shalqam also said in Tripoli that Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov had the right to pardon the medics.
Under the agreement signed with Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner, Europe promised to provide “lifelong treatment” to the infected children as well as aid to “improve the Benghazi hospital” where the children were infected, Mr. Shalqam said.
The bloc also committed to “provide other aid for education, historical antiquities, as well as support for security on Libya”s northern and southern borders to combat illegal immigration,” Mr. Shalqam said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said neither the bloc nor France paid Libya for the release. He said Qatar mediated the release and hinted that the Persian Gulf country may have had a broader role in resolving the crisis.
He also announced that he and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner would be visiting Libya today in a bid to “help Libya rejoin the international community.”
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