Libya Frees Condemned Medical Workers

NPR | By Eleanor Beardsley

Published July 24, 2007 at 6:00 AM EDT

Six foreign medical workers sentenced to death in Libya are free thanks to a deal with the European Union. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor flew out of Libya to Bulgaria aboard a French jetliner accompanied by the wife of French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The medical workers were convicted of intentionally infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. They have maintained their innocence.

Eleanor Beardsley

Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. Since then, she has steadily worked her way to becoming an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team.

See stories by Eleanor Beardsley

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