Luc Montagnier To Testify at Trial of Health Care Workers Accused of Deliberately Infecting Libyan Children With HIV

Dr. Luc Montagnier, the French researcher who co-discovered HIV, is expected to testify at the trial of one Palestinian and six Bulgarian health care workers who have been accused of deliberately infecting 393 Libyan children with HIV, Bulgarian radio reported on Monday, AFP/news24.com reports. In addition, Italian AIDS researcher Vittorio Colizzi, who co-wrote with Montagnier a report on the case that they submitted to Libyan authorities in April, will also testify at the trial (AFP/news24.com, 8/4). The health workers have been detained in Libya since early 1999 on charges that they deliberately infected children with HIV through contaminated blood products while working at a hospital in Benghazi, Libya. Montagnier visited the hospital in 2002 and concluded that the outbreak of HIV at the facility was likely caused by basic medical errors, such as inadequate equipment, unskilled staff and the reuse of unsterilized needles (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/19/02). The trial has been postponed until Sept. 3, according to AFP/news24.com. If the health care workers are found guilty, they will face the death penalty (AFP/news24.com, 8/4).