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Sharon Bowles MEP |
Sharon praises courage of imprisoned Bulgarian medics
October 10, 2007 12:00 AM
Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East, Sharon Bowles, has today hailed the extraordinary courage of six Bulgarian nurses released from a Libyan jail at the end of July.
They, along with one Palestinian doctor, had been imprisoned by the Libyan authorities after having been accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Despite their proclamations of innocence and questionable evidence, all seven medics spent over eight years in captivity before their release earlier this year.
Speaking on the day that the freed Bulgarian nurses visited the European Parliament to thank those that campaigned for their release, Sharon Bowles said, "For too long the international community ignored their plight and did nothing to secure their release. It took Bulgarian membership of the EU to alert the world to their plight and distress."
The liberation of the medics was the result of an intense, three-year diplomatic process started by the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, that British and German officials moved forward and that the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife appear to have clinched.
Sharon Bowles added, "I am of course delighted that the ordeal of these innocent people is over. It is, however, regrettable that it took so long for Europe to act to end their suffering and bring them home to their families.
In the future, I hope that we would move faster to support our citizens in similar horrific situations."
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