EU Presidency Statement on the Criminal Court in Libya sentencing to death five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor

Press release 534/2006
19 December, 2006

The Presidency of the European Union condems the verdict of the Criminal Court in Libya, on 19 December 2006, convicting, in a re-trial, and sentencing to death five Bulgarian nurses, Kristiana Vulcheva, Nasya Nenova, Valentina Siropulo, Valya Chervenyashka, Snezhana Dimitrova and one Palestinian doctor, Ashraf  al-Haiui, who have already spent seven years in prison in connection with the HIV/AIDS case at  the Benghazi hospital in 1999.

The Presidency reiterates the serious concerns expressed by the EU with regard to the basis on which the accused persons were prosecuted, their treatment while in custody and the lengthy delays in the process.

The European Union opposes the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances. The Presidency expects that the Higher Court of Justice will enable a just, equitable and humanitarian solution in this case.