Sofia turns out Christmas lights in protest for death row nurses
By Ian Nathan,WNS Bulgaria Correspondent
SOFIA - Sofia turned off its Christmas lights on Sunday in a show of solidarity for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya along with a Palestinian doctor. Floodlights on the parliament and presidency buildings were cut for five minutes, plunging the Bulgarian capital's landmarks into black, and Christmas lights were switched off in the city. The gesture, initiated by Sofia's mayor Boiko Borissov, was mirrored in several cities across the country. In Dobrich, in the northeast, the decorations shut down for an hour, national radio reported.
The names of the five nurses were read out at Orthodox Christian Christmas eve masses. Presenters on Bulgaria's bTV wore ribbons on their jackets with the slogan "You are not alone" which have become popular signs of solidarity among the Bulgarian population. The channel read out messages of solidarity to the five from thousands sent by viewers during the past 24 hours.
The six foreign medics were condemned to death by firing squad for the second time on Tuesday on charges of having "knowingly" infected with AIDS over 400 Libyan children in the Al Fateh hospital in Benghazi where they worked. The defendants maintain their innocence on the basis of testimony by international health experts who said the outbreak occurred long before the arrival of the foreigners at the hospital and was caused by poor hygiene.
posted by wnsworld @ 4:57 AM
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