The Supreme Court in Libya on Sunday reversed death sentences for a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses who were convicted of deliberately injecting 426 Libyan children with the AIDS virus.
The ongoing saga has soured relations between Libya and Bulgaria, as well as with other Western countries.
Observers believe the court action was prompted by Libyan President Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi’s desire to be rehabilitated in the eyes of Western nations and remove any stumbling blocks on the way.
The six, who have spent more than seven years in prison, will receive new trials because of what the Supreme Court called “irregularities.”
They were convicted in 2004 and were sentenced to death by gunshot. The six insisted they were coerced into admitting to a crime they did not commit.
The United States and the European Union had condemned the sentences, suggesting that the AIDS infections were the result of poor hygiene in Libyan hospitals.
The court action came three days after an agreement was reached by the U.S., Europe and Libya to establish a fund to help the children infected by AIDS in Libya in the 1990s.