Libyan prosecutor demands death sentences in HIV trial

A Libyan prosecutor on Monday demanded death sentences for six Bulgarian medics charged with deliberately infecting 383 Libyan children with HIV, Bulgarian state radio reported. The demand came just days after Luc Montagnier, the French codiscoverer of HIV, testified that poor hygiene likely led to the contamination. Montagnier said the contamination dates back to 1997--two years before the Bulgarians were hired to work at a hospital in Benghazi. The Bulgarians, five nurses and one doctor, were arrested by Libyan police in February 1999 and were in prison until September 2002, when a high tribunal acquitted them of conspiracy charges and handed the case over to an ordinary criminal court. They have since been under house arrest. The trial is expected to continue through the end of the week.