Bulgaria
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1998
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- DECEMBER 10, 1998 · On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority,...
- News items in the archive
- 149
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Bulgaria is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 149 news items on Bulgaria, from 1998 to today.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 17, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
a number of eminent personalities, including writer John le Carre, linguist Noam Chomsky...
a number of eminent personalities, including writer John le Carre, linguist Noam Chomsky...
- FEBRUARY 1, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy expressed the hope that...
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy expressed the hope that five Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya, would return home in 2005
- JANUARY 24, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian parliament speaker Ognian Guerdjikov called on...
Bulgarian parliament speaker Ognian Guerdjikov called on European Union legislatures to help save five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya in a scandal over AIDS-tainted blood.
- JANUARY 17, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
five Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya in a controversial AIDS case demanded...
five Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya in a controversial AIDS case demanded...
- JANUARY 14, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
the European Commission renewed a call for Libya...
the European Commission renewed a call for Libya to act to secure the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in an AIDS-tainted blood scandal
- JANUARY 5, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka held out hope...
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka held out hope...
- JANUARY 1, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- DECEMBER 9, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ruled out the execution...
the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ruled out the execution...
- DECEMBER 6, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
the Bulgarian government rejected a proposal by Tripoli
the Bulgarian government rejected a proposal by Tripoli
- DECEMBER 5, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Libya said that it could review death sentences...
Libya said that it could review death sentences...
- NOVEMBER 27, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
French President Jacques Chirac spoke out on behalf of...
French President Jacques Chirac spoke out on behalf of...
- OCTOBER 22, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
European Commission President Romano Prodi said that...
European Commission President Romano Prodi said that...
- OCTOBER 8, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council...
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided that the PACE Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee would draw up a special report on the case of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya on AIDS infection charg
- OCTOBER 4, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The Council of Europe's newly elected Secretary General...
The Council of Europe's newly elected Secretary General Terry Davis described as "outrageous" the case of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya on charges of deliberate HIV infection of several hundred Libyan children
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
European Union Commission President Romano Prodi held...
European Union Commission President Romano Prodi held with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during a private visit to the north African nation, the EU said
- JULY 27, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria rejected a Libyan proposal for a deal to save...
Bulgaria rejected a Libyan proposal for a deal to save five Bulgarian nurses convicted of deliberately infecting children with AIDS from a firing squad and insisted that they were innocent
- JULY 5, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The parliamentary wing of the Organisation for Security...
The parliamentary wing of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a pan-European security body, urged Libya not to execute six foreign medical workers convicted of infecting children with AIDS
- JUNE 21, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) would take a many-sided approach to Libya to support the Bulgarian medical workers unfairly convicted in that country, PACE President Peter Schieder said referring to the case of five Bulgarian nu
- JUNE 15, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The motives for the death sentences of the five Bulgarian...
The motives for the death sentences of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, charged with intentionally infecting over 400 Libyan children with HIV, were given to the lawyers eight days after the legal deadline expired
- JUNE 6, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The motives for the death sentences passed on five...
The motives for the death sentences passed on five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor on charges of infecting over 400 Libyan children with AIDS were not presented, as required by Libyan law
- JUNE 5, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he planned to...
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he planned to contact the Libyan government "at a high level" about the death sentences for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the AIDS virus
- MAY 31, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Canada supported Bulgaria in connection with the trial...
Canada supported Bulgaria in connection with the trial against the Bulgarian medics in Libya, Paul Dubois, Assistant Deputy Minister at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said after a meeting with Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Gruncharo
- MAY 28, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Serbia and Montenegro's President Svetozar Marovic...
Serbia and Montenegro's President Svetozar Marovic promised his Bulgarian counterpart Georgy Parvanov that his country would mediate on behalf of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya in a case involving AIDS-contaminated blood
- MAY 28, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
"China will use its influence to encourage a fair solution...
"China will use its influence to encourage a fair solution to the issue of the Bulgarian nurses sentenced in Libya," Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), told Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman Ogny
- MAY 27, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said he had learnt...
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said he had learnt with regret that the results on the case of the Bulgarian medics in Libya were not good and expressed hope that their death sentences would not be carried out
- MAY 26, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Turkey would raise the issue of...
It was reported that Turkey would raise the issue of the Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya, at the 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, due to open in Istanbul on June 14
- MAY 26, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Turkey would raise the issue of...
It was reported that Turkey would raise the issue of the Bulgarian nurses, sentenced to death in Libya, at the 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, due to open in Istanbul on June 14
- MAY 25, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Assembly chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov, who...
Bulgarian Assembly chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov, who was leading a delegation to Rome met with Senate President of Marcello Pera, aksed Italy for assistance regarding the Bulgarian medical professionals, sentenced to death by the Benghazi Criminal Court on
- MAY 24, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi conferred...
Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi conferred with Stefano Manservisi, head of cabinet of European Commission President Romano Prodi, and briefed him on the results of his visit to Libya on 18-19 May, on his meetings in Tunis during the Arab League s
- MAY 22, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian officials and politicians continued soliciting...
Bulgarian officials and politicians continued soliciting international support for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death by a Libyan court on charges of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the AIDS virus