![Bush urges Libya to release Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in AIDS case](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] In a White House meeting Monday with visiting Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov [official profile], President Bush urged the Libyan government to release five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for intentionally causing an AIDS outbreak at a Benghazi children's hospital in 1999. The story made international headlines last year when the court deciding the case seemingly ignored testimony from several expert witnesses [BBC report] that the outbreak occurred prior to the arrival of the health professionals. During his meeting [White House transcript] with Parvanov, Bush said "the nurses ought to be not only spared their [lives], but [should be released from] prison." Earlier this year, a Libyan court acquitted nine police officers and one doctor [JURIST report] in the case. Reuters has more.