“The hardest moment for me was when I was accused of infecting children with AIDS, and I was told if it was not me, to say who it was. All these years I was trying to find the answer to this question, and why it was me who had to take responsibility.”

So said Nasya Nenova, one of five Bulgarian nurses who returned from Libya on July 24, speaking at a July 25 news conference.

After eight years spent in Libyan prisons on accusations of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, Nasya, Valentina, Snezhana, Valya, Kristiana and husband Zdravko, as well as Palestinian doctor Ashraf, are now free and innocent in the eyes of all Bulgarians, the EU, the US and perhaps many more.

A day after they took their first steps into a new life, as free citizens, Nasya Nenova and Kristiana Vulcheva, as well as Dr Ashraf al-Hazouz, gave their first news conference at a hall that may never have seen as much media interest.

The medics had all day been undergoing medical tests. Only three attended the news conference. The others were not feeling well. Further information on their state of health was not yet known.

Asked whether they could ever forgive those responsible for the past eight years, Vulcheva said: “there always must be forgiveness”. She said she was willing mainly to forgive certain people who were simply doing what they were told, but were not the initial reason for their misery. “It could have happened to anyone, we simply had very bad luck,” Ashraf said.

Asked whether the nurses would seek compensation from the Bulgarian Government or the EU, Nenova said they were all still in shock and unable to think of such things at that moment. “I just want my life to be normal again,” Vulcheva said.

The answer was similar when they were asked whether they would lay charges against those who they say tortured them into confessions, with Vulcheva saying, “it is too early to say.”

Asked their expectations for the future, the nurses and Ashraf said they just wanted a normal life again, better than that of the past eight years.

After eight and a half years spent in prisons in Libya, five Bulgarian nurses, Dr. Zdravko Georgiev, the husband of one of the nurses, and Palestinian Dr. Ashraf al-Hazouz, who has Bulgarian citizenship, were brought home to Bulgaria by European External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy.
Their return followed some days of difficult negotiations involving Ferrero-Waldner, Sarkozy, and Libyan representatives.

The key to the successful outcome of the case was a memorandum signed in Tripoli by the European Commission through Ferrero-Waldner. The clauses in it will provide for full normalisation of EU relations with Libya. It includes measures to improve the medical care of the children infected with HIV/Aids in Libya, improving the conditions at the Benghazi hospital and the region. The agreement also contained a pledge to open the European market to Libyan farm and fishery produce, technical assistance for the restoration of archaeological monuments and EU grants for Libyan students.

The return of the medics was further made possible because of a bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and Libya that provides for citizens of one country convicted of crimes in the other to serve their sentences at home, sentences of life imprisonment included. This enabled the transfer of the medics to Bulgaria, where they could be pardoned under a 1984 prisoner exchange agreement. In June, Bulgaria granted Palestinian doctor Ashraf citizenship to make him eligible for transfer under the agreement.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference on July 24 in Paris that neither France nor the EU had made any payment to Libya to free the nurses (further to the $1 million for each child deal agreed the previous week). He thanked Qatar for mediating the medics’ release, but gave no further details about the role that the small Persian Gulf country may have played in resolving the crisis. Sarkozy was to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on July 25, where he was expected to sign agreements on bilateral co-operation.

After the French state aircraft brought the medics, Ferrero-Waldner told journalists and diplomats at Sofia Airport that the successful end of the case was a shared act by the entire European community. According to her, the return of the medics was a “humanitarian success of common efforts” and said that the outcome of the case marked “a new page in the history of relations between the EU and Libya.” As promised, she left for Libya on July 25 to continue providing support for the infected children.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said after the medics’ arrival that the success was due to the EU solidarity that Bulgaria received, mainly after it joined the EU in January 1 2007. The Bulgarian medics turned into a matter between the EU and Libya and not just between Bulgaria and Libya, he said.

Bulgarian Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev said that Libya could have no legal claims against Bulgaria or the medics anymore, because all the requirements set by the Libyans had been met.

After the nurses’ arrival, Bulgarian Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova and Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski said that Bulgaria’s Government would cover the complete medical treatment and the health and social insurance of the Bulgarian nurses. The Government was expected to adopt a decree on July 26 to grant one-time compensation to each of the nurses. In addition, the Labour and Social Policy Ministry would give 1000 leva one-time aid for the urgent needs of Kristiana Valcheva, Nasya Nenova, Valentina Siropoulo, Valya Chervenyashka , Snezhana Dimitrova, Dr. Zdravko Georgiev and Dr. Ashraf Alhajouj.

Gaidarski said that it was possible to arrange suitable jobs for the medics if they wanted. The Labour and Social Policy Ministry said that it would assist the families of the medics in finding jobs, and their children in receiving scholarships. The Government is also to provide the medics and their families with month-long holidays at the seaside or in the mountains.

On July 11, Libya’s supreme judicial court confirmed their death sentences for the third time. Later, on July 17 the six had their death sentences commuted to life in prison by Libya’s supreme judicial council. The ruling came after the families of the 438 children infected with HIV agreed to accept financial settlements.

Bulgaria made an official request on July 19 for Tripoli to repatriate the medics to serve their sentences in Bulgaria. Five days later they retuned home to their loved ones.
Libya’s reaction on the day of the release was that it had ordered the release of the medical workers after it was satisfied that the conditions for extradition had been met.

“The matter has been settled. We received guarantees for the normalisation of relations with European countries and for a partnership agreement with the EU,” a Libyan official told the AFP news agency.