violations in Libya – Inhuman treatment of Bulgarian medical staff". The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly severely condemned this verdict which is contrary to the fundamental values they uphold....The Parliamentary Assembly...categorically condemns the barbaric way in which they were treated in the first few months after their arrest and the torture and ill-treatment to which they were subjected. European Commission opposed the position of the Libyan court decision to sentence to death. Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Alexander Yakovenko, Spokesman: "According to our information, the Bulgarian medics' lawyers intend to appeal this decision in the Supreme Court of Libya. For our part, we hope that an additional trial in Tripoli, in which all the facts and the opinions of people involved in this case will be comprehensively examined." The United States State Department did not agree with the decision of the court. NGOs: official positions Many non-governmental organizations took a stand against the sentences. In a statement on 6 May 2004, a statement from Amnesty International was released: "We are shocked by the imposition of these death sentences and call for the Libyan authorities to immediately quash them. The ICN President Christine Hancock wrote: "The sentence is unjust, unwarranted and unacceptable." "We implore the Libyan government to rectify this dreadful situation as quickly as possible. The health workers are being unfairly held responsible for a tragedy which has caused outrage in Libya." Yoram Blachar, chairman of the WMA Council, said after a meeting of the WMA wrote: "I appeal to the Libyan authorities to quash this sentence. It is completely unjustified." Many newspapers and journals came out against the sentences. Development of media coverage In Libya, La magazine (issue 78) published its exposé about AIDS at the hospital, but was shut down. Initial Bulgarian coverage focused on a scandal in the wake of the arrests when the Bulgarian news journal "24 hours" of 24 February published an investigation of money laundering at Expomed entitled, "How we [lost] USD 5,048,292 in Libya." The trial received almost no public attention outside Libya and Bulgaria until an account by Eric Favereau was published in the French paper Libération on 2 June 2000 entitled "Libye : Six Bulgares accusés d’être à l’origine de 393 cas de sida Assassins d’enfants ou boucs émissaires de la Libye ? " (Libya: six Bulgarians accused of causing 392 Aids cases – Child killers or Libya's Scapegoats?).