JURIST - Paper Chase: Libyan court sentences Bulgarians to death for infecting children with HIV

A Libyan court Thursday sentenced five Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor to death by firing squad for having deliberating infected 400 children with the AIDS-causing virus HIV. The sentences come at the end of a bizarre on-and-off five year trial that was the focus of considerable attention in Bulgaria and elsewhere and was seen in some quarters as part of an effort by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to find scapegoats for a national tragedy. Bulgarian leaders say they are shocked by the outcome of the trial, and European Union representatives have expressed extreme concern over the sentences. The Libyan court said that it would release its reasoning for the sentences within a month; attorneys for the defendants said they would appeal. BBC News has more. From Sofia, the Bulgarian News Network has local coverage in English.

UPDATE: At a US State Department briefing Thursday afternoon, spokesman Richard Boucher called the Libyan verdict "unacceptable" to the US:

...the United States will continue to follow this matter closely and do everything we can to bring pressure on the Libyan government to resolve this matter so these people are released [and] return home.

Reuters has more.