Concern is growing for Australian man Jock Palfreeman, who remains detained in Bulgaria a week after his release from prison, with reports that he faces the prospect of being sent back.
The young Aussie was just 21 when he was jailed for murder, but maintains he acted in self-defence, fatally stabbing a local student after stepping in to stop a group of men committing an assault.
He was freed on parole last week after 11 years behind bars, but was taken straight to a detention centre, where he remains, unable to leave the country despite being given his passport.
His prospects of release are still uncertain, and there are fears he may yet be sent back to prison, after the country’s highest court agreed to hear an application from the prosecutor-general.
Speaking to ABC‘s 7.30 last night, his father Simon said:
“It was pretty devastating to think that he was almost back and then suddenly there’s this other development where they’re trying to block him coming home.”
Palfreeman himself said that, despite giving him a passport this week, Bulgarian authorities have “blanked” Australian consular staff, refusing to meet with them to discuss his release.
“Successive Australian governments have failed to do anything about my situation,” he said. “My hope that the Australian Government would help me was gone many years ago.”
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed that she has made attempts to speak with her Bulgarian counterpart while attending this week’s UN General Assembly.
This far, she has not had success, and Ekaterina Zaharieva told local media that her schedule is “full” and has not set a time for a meeting.
23-year-old law student Andrei Monov, who was stabbed to death by Palfreeman in the 2007 incident, was the son of a prominent Bulgarian politician.
Monov’s family are seeking an order that would bar the Aussie from leaving the country until he pays court-ordered compensation for the death.
