July 24 2007 was D-Day for six Bulgarian nurses, a Palestinian doctor... and a joyful Bulgaria. After eight years of trials and tribulations, the medics, who had been charged and twice sentenced to death for supposedly deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the HIV virus bore faces of disbelief that it was all over.
Because of Bulgarias initial underestimation of the problems gravity, the medics passed through a series of temporary arrests before going into long-term custody, then were tortured in jail, faced a myriad of court hearings, saw their innocence supported by reports from world-renowned experts on the HIV infection in the Benghazi hospital, then faced a sentence of death by firing squad, were supported by dozens of civic petitions calling for their release, a long succession of diplomatic shuttles from politicians of three Bulgarian governments, the involvement of EU envoys, journalists from Bulgaria and elsewhere in the world... And then the long-awaited homecoming.
The saga was so enduring that the successful end of the very last round of negotiations, that included French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia, the External Relations European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, was a surprise that many at first found difficult to believe was real.
The reception of the Bulgarian medics at the Sofia Airport was fanfare-replete. Hugs and unfettered elation from medics relatives and commiserating crowds abounded.
Media covered all the possible facets of the happy-end saga, from post-trauma therapy for the medics to compensation for the eight years of unjust treatment, to the pardoning of the nurses by Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov and Libyas challenge of the decision and confessions that the nurses had been tortured.
The saga had its price. It ranged from hundreds of millions of US dollars in compensation for the families of the infected children to billions worth of deals for Libya. Bulgaria, Qatar and a slew of European countries funneled $460 million into the International Fund Benghazi, the fund established to finance the treatment of the HIV-infected children and the improvement of the Libyan health care system. Libya also had a debt waiver worth $56 million from Bulgaria. Several European countries did the same.
France, for playing a pivotal role in the final stages of the saga, has had a business benefit worth billions. As confirmed in December this year, France and Libya signed a 296 million euro deal on Libyas purchase of anti-tank Milan rockets and radiocommunication Tetra equipment. Many more are in the pipeline.
The trial also had its marital and internal politics repercussions. Cecilia Sarkozy, who was sent as Frances envoy to Libya twice for marathon talks, was later held answerable before French authorities for acting in the foreign ministers capacity.
Pecuniary compensations were multi-lateral for the medics. While the Bulgarian Government endorsed a 10 000 leva reimbursement for each of the nurses, a number of banks opened bank accounts for donations to the medics. The most lavish gifts, an apartment for each nurse, came from a Bulgarian mobile telephony provider.
Some of the recapitulation lines are yet to be drawn and some questions yet to be answered. While the trial was widely perceived as involving only Bulgarians, and the nurses repeatedly testified that they had been tortured, it was only the Palestinian doctor Ashraf al-Hajuj who brought charges against Libyan leader Muammar Ghadaffi and the torturers. The Palestinian doctor filed the lawsuit in Paris after being turned down by the Dutch judiciary. The Paris authorities had already made it clear that to avoid further politicisation of the case, it would apply little energy to the case.
The saga has been as roller-coaster as to serve as inspiration for many a writer, media and even Hollywood. Miroliuba Benatova, a bTV reporter who followed the case from the start, produced a book published in the name of Kristiana Vulcheva. Feim Chaushev, incumbent Deputy Foreign Minister and chief negotiator in talks with Libyan officials over the last two years of negotiations, together with the head of the foreign ministry Middle East and Africa department Petko Doikov, co-authored a book entitled the Benghazi Case: Bulgarian Diplomacy in Action.
Furthermore, Hollywood-based Sixth Sense Productions film studio is financing a film to be called The Six from Benghazi. Directors of the movie, Richard Harding and Sam Foyer, have collected more than 50 videotapes of interviews with the nurses, lawyers and politicians. Reportedly, among actresses to be asked to play a part are Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep.
The saga is, thus, to be perpetuated for the generations to come. Yet the question insiders keep on asking remains. Whose justice it served, and whose blame it covered, to hold six Bulgarian nurses answerable for the infection of hundreds of children... How come that the nurses proved hostage to years and years of flawed diplomatic trade-off and why diplomacy was right-tracked only when Libya was offered the nurse-for-business trade-off.
