BRUSSELS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Dutch public prosecutors have charged three men suspected of deliberately infecting homosexual men with HIV, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported Thursday.

    Dutch police arrested four men in connection with the case in the northern city of Groningen earlier this month. They include a gay couple from the city of Slochteren, both aged 48, and a 33-year-old gay man from Groningen.

    The three are suspected of organizing sex parties where they injected victims with HIV-contaminated blood taken from themselves.

    Two of them have admitted that they arranged dates with gay men through Internet chat rooms. At the parties, they secretly spiked the drinks of the victims with GHB, commonly known as the "date rape drug", sometimes in combination with ecstasy.

    The victims were then sexually abused and injected with infected blood.

    The Dutch public prosecution department has charged the three with rape and serious assault. They could face a maximum penalty of 16 years in prison.

    "The life expectancy of the victims can be extended with medication and as a result the suspects cannot be charged with manslaughter or murder," the spokesperson for the prosecution office explained.

    This means that even if it were certain that one or more of their victims would eventually die of AIDS as a direct result of the injections, the offenders will not be convicted of murder.

    The fourth man, a 34-year-old drug dealer from Groningen, is suspected of supplying the GHB and ecstasy. He was found to be in possession of a large amount of drugs. The other three suspects also have the drugs.

    The sex parties took place in the homes of the suspects or their victims. According to the police, the suspects did it just for fun and because they found unprotected sex to be "pure". The suspects had also injected one another with their infected blood.

    Five victims between the ages of 25 and 50 have reported to the police so far, of whom four have filed charges. The police said some of them have become HIV-positive as a result of the injections.

    Twelve men have reported to the regional health authority in Groningen that they were possibly infected with HIV during gay parties in the city. It is not known whether the men have actually been infected.

    Police suspect that there are more victims and are calling on them to report to the authorities.

    Last year the Groningen health authority noticed an increase in HIV infections and warned homosexuals against visiting these parties.