 The epidemic is the largest documented outbreak of HIV within a hospital in history, and it was the first time HIV/AIDS became a public issue in Libya.Two of the world's foremost HIV experts, Luc Montagnier and Vittorio Colizzi, supported the medics' case, and reaction to their convictions was swift, with a number of appeals from scientific and human rights organizations, and various official condemnations of the verdict along with diplomatic initiatives.Three of the Bulgarian medics published autobiographical books regarding the trial