The second part of the Australian Story episode (Conviction) examining Jock Palfreeman‘s case and his father’s efforts to help him obtain justice is screening on ABC1 on Monday, June 20 @ 8pm. The Palfreemans have Buckley’s chance of extracting any concessions from the Bulgarian legal system but will have some opportunity to do so via the EU court system. In which case, the support of an organisation like Get Up! would be useful and youse can add your voice here.
I couldn’t see a way to display a larger version of that video so here be the ABC iView link. Use the ‘Options’ tab at top of site and select ‘Large Buffer’ if you get crap resolution at first.
Sorry, if you’ve mentioned it before @ndy, but what’s your connection to Mr Palfreeman? I just see that you’re rather passionate about the case and I am assuming that you have a personal connection to him in some way. I’d just like to say that I pretty much agree with everything you’ve [written] so far. These people have no right to discuss the customs of another country as far as carrying a knife etc. unless they have been to said country themselves.
This young man should be released immediately, he is innocent, and the government OUR government should get their act together and get some lawyers over there to step in. If he was a high profile figure this would never have been allowed to get so far in the first instance.
FREE JOCK.
@charlotte: The first time I heard the name ‘Jock Palfreeman’ was after he was first arrested (late December 2007/early January 2008). So I have no personal connection, and we’ve never met (tho’ I’ve exchanged a few letters with him in the intervening years). My interest in Jock’s case proceeds from a more general interest in anti-racist and anti-fascist activism. (Re carrying a knife, Jock has also stated – and I think that there’s some ref to this in ‘Australian Story’ – that he had been attacked on prior occasions while traveling in Bulgaria.)
@Anne: I’m not sure what steps the Australian Government has taken inre Jock’s case. In October 2009, the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov, visited Australia and met w various VIPs, inc PM Rudd, so there was certainly an opportunity at that point to discuss the case. Otherwise I assume that they’ve offered the kinds of assistance they would in any similar case. There have been criticisms of the performance of Foreign Affairs in the recent past inre some (other) cases, but I dunno how relevant these are in Jock’s case. For what it’s worth, I think public pressure is necessary to get the Government – any Government – to act appropriately. Australia/EU-relations will become moar important when Jock’s final appeal is dismissed and the case (presumably) goes to the European Court of Human Rights for review.
Sorry to break this to you delusional folks, but if a guy walks around in a foreign country with a knife, jumps into a fight and kills someone, it’s an offence. What!!! Really??? Yes, really.
And on the other hand, there’s the facts. You might like to examine them.