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
- MAY 20, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic met the Libyan ambassador...
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic met the Libyan ambassador to Croatia to discuss how Croatia could help solving the problem of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya after they were convicted of deliberately infecti
- MAY 19, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria's Foreign Minister said he hoped for a quick...
Bulgaria's Foreign Minister said he hoped for a quick solution to a dispute with Tripoli over death sentences imposed on five Bulgarian nurses convicted of infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus
- MAY 18, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The EU chief executive reiterated a call to Libya to...
The EU chief executive reiterated a call to Libya to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor it has sentenced to death for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS
- MAY 18, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The EU chief executive reiterated a call to Libya to...
The EU chief executive reiterated a call to Libya to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor it has sentenced to death for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS
- MAY 6, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A Libyan court sentenced 5 Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian...
A Libyan court sentenced 5 Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor to death by firing squad for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the deadly HIV virus, court officials said
- MAY 6, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The EU condemned death sentences handed in Libya to...
The EU condemned death sentences handed in Libya to five Bulgarian health workers and a Palestinian doctor for spreading AIDS, saying they cast a "shadow" over improving ties with Tripoli
- APRIL 21, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death...
Bulgaria was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 7, 2004BulgariaDEATH 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.
- FEBRUARY 16, 2004BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Prosecutors in Libya called for the death sentence...
Prosecutors in Libya called for the death sentence for seven health workers, six Bulgarian and one Palestinian, accused of spreading AIDS in a children's hospital in the northern Libyan town of Benghazi, Bulgarian radio reported
- APRIL 24, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death...
Bulgaria was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- MARCH 20, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
At the UN Commission on Human Rights convening in Geneva...
At the UN Commission on Human Rights convening in Geneva Bulgaria expressed its firm conviction that the abolition of the death penalty represented a milestone in the progressive evolution of universal human rights standards
- FEBRUARY 13, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the Council...
Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Yurii Shterk, deposited with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schimmer the instrument of ratification by Bulgaria of Protocol No
- FEBRUARY 13, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the Council...
Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Yurii Shterk, deposited with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schimmer the instrument of ratification by Bulgaria of Protocol No
- JANUARY 1, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The Bulgarian Vice-President commuted the 21 death...
The Bulgarian Vice-President commuted the 21 death sentences passed between 1990 and 1998 to life imprisonment upon the abolition of the death penalty in December 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A moratorium on executions imposed by Parliament was...
A moratorium on executions imposed by Parliament was in place between July 20, 1990 and December 10, 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December...
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2003BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
In February 2003, Bulgaria deposited with the Council...
In February 2003, Bulgaria deposited with the Council of Europe the instrument of ratification of Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Ambassador Yuri Sterk, signed Protocol No
Bulgarian Ambassador Yuri Sterk, signed Protocol No
- AUGUST 29, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The session cabinet approved Bulgaria's subscription...
The session cabinet approved Bulgaria's subscription to the Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, abolishing death penalty under all circumstances, including wartime, state of emergency or state of
- AUGUST 28, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A poll conducted by the CVVM polling agency revealed...
A poll conducted by the CVVM polling agency revealed that 68 per cent are in favour of the restoration of the death penalty
- AUGUST 9, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The verdict in the trial of 15 people charged with...
The verdict in the trial of 15 people charged with the wilful contamination of 393 Libyan children with AIDS was again postponed to an unspecified date, according to legal sources in Tripoli
- JUNE 2, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A Libyan court is to define new charges against six...
A Libyan court is to define new charges against six Bulgarian medical staff and a Palestinian accused of provoking an AIDS epidemic through tainted blood products, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said
- FEBRUARY 25, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation...
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) called for public intervention in the trial of five Bulgarian nurses and one doctor, one Palestinian and 9 Libyans, in Libya
- FEBRUARY 17, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A Libyan People's Court ordered a new probe in the...
A Libyan People's Court ordered a new probe in the trial of six Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with HIV, a Bulgarian official said
- FEBRUARY 12, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi and Libyan...
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi and Libyan Foreign Minister Abd al-Rahman Muhammed Shalqam discussed the case of the six Bulgarian medics facing the death penalty in Libya on charges of deliberately infecting 393 Libyan children with the HIV virus
- JANUARY 1, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority,...
On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a bill abolishing the death penalty for all crimes
- DECEMBER 22, 2001BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Tripoli People's Court postponed its verdict on six...
Tripoli People's Court postponed its verdict on six Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor charged with deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus to February 17, 2002 to complete the study of the case
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2001BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
A Libyan court postponed until December 22 its ruling...
A Libyan court postponed until December 22 its ruling in a trial of Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor charged with deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, officials said
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2001BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Libya hasn't executed a death penalty in the last seven...
Libya hasn't executed a death penalty in the last seven years and this is indicative of a policy that is encouraging for the Bulgarian medics tried in Tripoli, National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov, said in a meeting with the families of the medics
- AUGUST 2, 2001BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria's justice minister said he feared that six...
Bulgaria's justice minister said he feared that six Bulgarian medics on trial in Libya for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with HIV could be sentenced to death if found guilty