Libyan AIDS Case: Judgment Unlikely on Monday.

 

Sofia, July 14 (BTA) - The Arraignment Chamber in Libya is expected to convene in Benghazi on Monday, July 15 to proceed with a case in which six Bulgarian health professionals are charged with intentionally infecting 393 Libyan children with the HIV virus at a local hospital in 1998.

 

The six Bulgarian defendants are doctor Zdravko Georgiev and nurses Kristiyana Vulcheva, Nassya Nenova, Valentina Siropoulo, Valya Chervenyashka and Snezhana Dimitrova.

 

The principal defendant is Palestinian Ashraf al-Hajuj. Most of the charges against the Bulgarians as well as nine Libyan doctors rest on al-Hajuj's confessions.

 

According to Libyan lawyer Osman Bizanti, who represents the Bulgarians, Monday's hearing cannot be expected to produce an immediate judgment. He supposes that the Arraignment Chamber will convene again at least three or four weeks later to allow the defence to familiarize itself with the results of the investigation and to get prepared in the meantime.

 

After the first hearing of the case before the Arraignment Chamber on June 3, 2002, the Chamber ordered additional investigation and questioning of the defendants. The questioning of the Palestinian and the Bulgarians ended earlier this month. It is unclear whether the Libyans have also been questioned.

 

The defence will perhaps be allowed to present its case at the hearing after July 15, Bizanti said. If the presiding judge finds that there is insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict, he may discontinue the proceedings and the defendants may be released. If, however, the available evidence is found to be sufficient, the case will be referred to a criminal court, he said.

 

Bizanti said he will not attend the July 15 hearing. He will be represented there by an assistant. Bulgarian lawyer Plamen Yalnuzov is expected to be in Benghazi, but it is unclear whether he will be admitted to the hearing.

 

Interviewed by BBC in late June 2002, Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, son of Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, said the HIV infection at the Benghazi hospital was caused by negligence and was not the result of a conspiracy. His Qaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations had revealed new cases of HIV infection which took place after the arrest of the Bulgarian health professionals. This shows that there were certain irregularities in the management of the hospital, negligence and lack of discipline which indirectly caused the tragedy, al-Islam said.

 

In September 2001, the Qaddafi Foundation undertook to observe the AIDS trial. With the Foundation's assistance, the Bulgarian defendants were moved from Tripoli's Judaida Prison to a guarded villa in the outskirts of the Libyan capital.

 

The Libyan authorities arrested the Bulgarians in February 1999, and a year later they charged the six with conspiracy against the Libyan State, deliberate infection of Libyan children with HIV, and violation of Libyan social norms.

 

On July 17, 2002, the Libyan People's Court dropped the conspiracy charge and referred the case to the chief prosecutor's office.

 

Interviewed for the Nedelya 150 weekly political show on National Radio July 14, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said lawyer Yalnuzov would go to Tripoli the same day. "I think that the proceedings have been unfolding as expected. I do not wish that the normal course of the proceedings be influenced or interfered with by statements originating from our Government," Passy said.

 

 

 

First-Quarter Chinese Investment in Bulgaria at $ 300,000 Varna, on the Black Sea, July 14 (BTA) - Varna Regional Governor Yani Yanev and China's State Councilor Wu Yi identified consumer electronics, tourism and the development of special economic zones as promising areas of cooperation, the regional administration's press office said Sunday.

 

Councilor Wu, who is in charge of economic affairs in the Chinese Government, is leading a large delegation on a visit to Bulgaria.

 

Wu showed interest in infrastructure projects, electricity generation, the structure and financing of municipalities, and the responsibilities of the Government regarding the administration of the economy.

 

A Bulgarian-Chinese joint venture in Varna for production of air conditioners would serve many needs, Wu said. She noted that global warming and the expansion of tourism on the Black Sea coast would be conducive to the success of such an undertaking.

 

Bulgaria hopes to be among the first European countries to win a "special destination" status in China, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Nikolay Vassilev told reporters at the Albena resort, which was also visited by the Chinese delegation.

 

Chinese investment in Bulgaria in the first quarter of 2002 stood at 300,000 US dollars, against 240,000 US dollars over the previous twelve years, Deputy Economy Minister Milen Keremedchiev said in Varna, as quoted by the Economy Ministry's press office. Bulgaria can use Chinese expertise in the development of free economic zones, Keremedchiev said.

 

Bulgaria is attractive to Chinese investors with its zero tariff exchange with the EU countries and the free trade agreements with its neighbours, the Deputy Economy Minister reportedly said.

 

The investments in the first Bulgarian-Chinese joint venture for washing detergents based in Kyustendil, Southwestern Bulgaria, total 150,000 dollars, Keremedchiev said.

 

Recognizing the limited potential of individual Bulgarian manufacturers and the huge market opportunities in China, the Economy Ministry and the Executive Agency for Promotion of Trade are drawing up projects to form consortiums of Bulgarian companies. Such consortiums will have larger financial resources and advertisement funds, which will facilitate their sales to China, Keremedchiev said.

 

 

 

Russian Claims to Bulgartabac Assets Groundless, Foreign Ministry Says.

 

Sofia, July 14 (BTA) - Russian claims to assets of the Bulgartabac Holding Group were considered by the Council of Ministers on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry's Information and Public Relations Directorate said in a press release Sunday.

 

"Following a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the claims put forward by the Russian side, the Government found them to be absolutely unjustified and lacking any legal or factual ground," the press release says.

 

"An overview of international agreements concluded in conformity with the post-1945 Peace Treaties shows that after World War II Bulgaria acquired from the USSR the assets of the enemy countries available on its territory for value, unconditionally and definitively, under valid international agreements.

 

"These agreements, together with the Peace Treaties, presented a solid body of legal instruments for the handling of property relations between Bulgaria and the USSR in the period of post-war adjustment.

 

"The Bulgarian Government presented a note on Bulgaria's position on this matter to the Russian authorities without delay.

 

"Albeit groundless, the claims of the Russian side are purely economic and would not impede the current upward trend in Bulgarian-Russian relations. The new dynamism of bilateral political, economic and cultural relations has found a practical expression in the positive outcome of the high-level visits exchanged over the last year.

 

"Real opportunities have thus emerged to promote cooperation between the two countries in the spirit of constructiveness and on the basis of mutual benefit," the Foreign Ministry said.

 

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said on National Radio that all bidders for the tobacco monopoly can "stay calm," as "no circumstances could affect the transparency and fairness of the company's privatization."

 

"Such ownership claims to Bulgartabac assets may be aimed to influence the privatization procedure in order to benefit certain bidders at the expense of others," Passy said.