(11 Jul 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Various of exteriors of presidential building
2. SOUNDBITE: (Bulgarian) Georgi Parvanov, Bulgarian President:
"Unfortunately the first decision we have from the supreme court in Libya is the one we expected, it confirms the death sentence."
3. Wide exterior of Prime Minister's office
4. SOUNDBITE: (Bulgarian) Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian Prime Minister:
"This is the decision we were expecting, on the bright side we have the statement from the Libyan Foreign Minister saying that by next Monday the political process will be sped up to lead us to a resolution."
5. Mid shot of newspapers being printed
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Monchil Injov, Journalist and Political Analyst:
"I think it's a tragedy for not only for Bulgaria, not only for Europe, not only for the free world, but it is also a tragedy for Libya. It demonstrates that the judicial system of Libya is something incredible. Because everybody knows that this process is political. It's a counter-process to the Lockerbie one and Libya was all the time looking for innocent victims."
7. Various of newspapers being printed
STORYLINE
Bulgaria's president said on Wednesday that the Libyan Supreme Court's decision in the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of infecting more than 400 children with the AIDS virus, was an expected if unfortunate decision.
The court announced it's verdict to uphold the death sentence for the doctor and five nurses earlier on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately the first decision we have from the supreme court in Libya is the one we expected, it confirms the death sentence," President Georgi Parvanov told reporters at a press conference in the capital Sofia.
But the verdict may not be the final word in the case.
Libya's Supreme Judicial Council, which is headed by the minister of justice, could approve or reject the convictions or set lighter sentences.
Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said he is encouraged by a "statement from the Libyan Foreign Minister saying that by next Monday the political process will be sped up to lead us to a resolution."
Libya's foreign minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam said the judicial council would convene on Monday.
The five nurses and the Palestinian doctor were not present in the court for the appeal hearing.
In announcing the verdict, the judge mentioned nothing about a settlement announced on Tuesday by a foundation headed by the Libyan leader's son.
The Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations said on Tuesday that the Libyan families of the HIV-infected children reached an agreement with the nurses and doctor but would not say whether the deal involved financial compensation for the families.
Libya has been under intense international pressure to free the six, who deny infecting the children.
The case has become a sticking point in Libya's attempts to rebuild ties with the United States and Europe.
The six medics began working at the hospital in the city of Benghazi in 1998 and were arrested the next year after more than 400 children there contracted HIV. Fifty of the children have since died.
The prosecution insists that the six infected the children intentionally in experiments to find a cure for AIDS.
Defence experts testified that the children were infected by unhygienic hospital conditions.
In their testimony, the workers said the confessions used by the prosecution had been extracted under torture.
Several of the nurses have said they were also raped to force confessions.
The medical workers, who have been in custody since 1999, were convicted and sentenced to death in 2004.
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