Libyan HIV trial adjourned to 2002

TRIPOLI, Libya -- A court has postponed its verdict on six Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor charged with deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus.

"The court has decided to push back the verdict to February 17 to complete the study of the case," the Tripoli People's Court judge said after a brief hearing.

The medics, detained in Tripoli in early 1999, are accused of deliberately infecting 393 Libyan children at a Benghazi hospital with blood products contaminated with the HIV virus, which can cause AIDS. Some of the children have since died.

The accused face being sentenced to death if convicted in the first trial of its kind in Libya involving foreigners.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty as did nine Libyans facing similar charges.

The court was expected to announce the verdict on Saturday after judgment was postponed in September.

The court had said it needed more time to consider the evidence.

'Positive sign'

Bulgaria welcomed the court's decision for a delay.

"For us, the delay is encouraging as it means that as of today there is no solid evidence that could warrant the most severe sentences," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters.

"It (the delay) means the court is considering all facts seriously and the door remains open for a favourable outcome."

Justice Minister Anton Stankov, a former judge, agreed. "This is a positive sign. From my experience I know that long delays are always favourable for the defendants," Stankov told Bulgarian radio.

"We view the court's decision for a new delay as a sign of its determination to uncover the truth."

The trial of the six Bulgarians -- five nurses and a doctor -- and the Palestinian started on June 2 after being postponed 12 times at the request of the defence since it opened in February 2000.