HIV positive women finally acquitted of charges

An Athens court on Friday exonerated 11 HIV positive women, three of whom have died, of the charge of intentionally infecting people while allegedly working as prostitutes.

The prosecutor at the trial said there was no evidence to suggest the women worked as prostitutes nor that they had unprotected sex with people, with the exception one of the defendants.

The women had been arrested back in 2012 for allegedly working illegally as prostitutes and their names were publicized, causing outrage among rights groups.

They were arrested after the health minister at the time, Andreas Loverdos, called for the criminalization of unprotected sex with prostitutes.

The women had always maintained their innocence and people in the courtroom broke out in loud applause once the verdict was read out.