Monday, November 30, 2009
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Sofia, Canberra, Athens, London
Jock Palfreeman is a 23 year old Australian currently in prison in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is undergoing trial on charges of murder and attempted murder after an encounter with a gang of 16 far-right football hooligans.
In December 2007, Jock witnessed the gang attacking two men of Roma ethnicity in Sofia. Jock went to the aid of the Roma men, putting himself in the middle of the attack. The Roma men were able to escape, but the gang continued their vicious attack on Jock. Following the fight, one member of the gang was killed and another injured.
Jock was refused bail, and has been in the infamous Sofia Central Prison for nearly two years awaiting a verdict. He will give his final plea on Wednesday, 2nd December 2009, and can expect a verdict on the 3rd December.
Jock’s trial has been repeatedly delayed due to witnesses, court officials and even members of the judging panel failing to attend scheduled court dates without notice. Three consecutive court dates were aborted after 30 minutes due to missing medical and technical experts.
More importantly, crucial evidence proving Jock’s innocence has been either carelessly or deliberately destroyed. For example, CCTV footage showing the gang’s assault on the Roma men and then on Jock was initially deleted due to police recklessness. When Jock’s defense was able to retrieve it using a computer expert, the entire computer mysteriously exploded destroying the footage, again in police “care”.
The stories of the gang members and other witnesses have been changed repeatedly since the initial statements. The gang members initially confirmed Jock’s version of events, but have since changed their statements to deny even the existence of the Roma men. They claim that Jock, a young Australian in a foreign country, simply attacked a gang of 16 men alone without a motive. Their initial statements have been blocked from court by the prosecutor. Initially, ten Bulgarian Police Officers supported Jock’s version of events. To date, eight of these have changed their stories to fit with the statements of the gang. Throughout the entire case, Jock’s statement has remained exactly the same.
On Monday, 30th November, a coordinated demonstration will be held in Sofia, Canberra, Athens and London. We will show the Bulgarian representatives that Jock’s case is being closely observed across the world, and that any outcome other than self-defence is a perversion of justice.
JOCK NEEDS OUR SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT!
For more information, please write : [email protected]
See also : freejock.net | Jock Palfreeman : November 20, 2009 Update (November 20, 2009).
- Canberra, Australia:
Bulgarian Embassy
33 Culgoa Cct
O’Malley
Sofia, Bulgaria
London, England:
Bulgarian Embassy
186-188 Queen’s Gate
SW7 5HL
Athens, Greece:
Bulgarian Embassy
33A Stratigou Kallari Str.
Paleo Psychico
DNHLLBSTRDS ! LKYRCLWNJCKWLLDSN !
Just tell me how a man attacks 16 other people and after the fight 1 out of the 16 people is killed and another one is badly injured and young Jock here gets out without a scratch… Further more there was no video tape and the story about the policemen that “vanished” the tape is a hoax… please don’t make a [fool] of yourself, at least on the internet.
1. Jock didn’t get away “without a scratch”.
2. There were various filmed records of the events surrounding the attack, obtained from the numerous CCTV cameras surrounding the hotel where the attack took place. These have been referred to in court. So too, the question of the missing tape.
Every year Federation of Anarchist of Bulgaria (FAB) delimit from this case.
Our official position is that independently from the circumstance Jock killed a man and is guilty. This is intolerable crime.
The dead boy Andrey Monov had friends who were and are anarchists and our position is that he was innocent.
We don’t have our statement in English, but please find the following link in Bulgarian:
http://a-bg.net/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=496
The nazis in Bulgaria use this case for their propaganda. So every kind of solidarity with one killer is shame with every principle of freedom!
A few things.
1. There is no question that Jock killed a man. This is agreed to by all parties.
2. The question is whether or not he acted in self-defence.
If the court decides that Jock acted in self-defence, the sentence he will receive will be considerably less than if it decides that the assault was unprovoked and unjustified by any concern for his own or others’ safety.
This is the issue which is at stake in the trial.
3. Of course Andrey was ‘innocent’ — he was only ‘guilty’ of, it seems, participating in a racially-motivated attack.
This is why Jock is in court.
4. Of course the nazis in Bulgaria make use of this case — it serves their purposes to do so.
5. Expressing solidarity with someone who: a) intervened in order to rescue someone else from being assaulted by a gang (an assault apparently motivated by racial or ethnic antagonism) and b) is currently attempting to make his case in court; does not proceed from a hatred of freedom, but a desire for justice.
6. Thank you for the link.
1. Without a scratch – he got his life, with no serious injury, right? Nothing broken? Maybe he has a scratch from killing the other guy i don’t know…you tell me.
2. Video? Show me please… no video, no where, no cops destroying it – why because there was no video at the first place. In court they do not allow video recordings most of the times.
3. HE BRUTALLY KILLED A MAN AND SERIOUSLY INJURED ANOTHER MAN.
And you didn’t tell me, how in god sake does 16 people attack 1 and after that the 1 kills 1 of the 16 and another one is seriously injured, but he doesnt have any fatal wounds? Plus both of them were stabbed in the back, do you know that? Self defence?
Ah,so the filthy anarchist mongrels seek to gather in defense of that murderer,eh?Fine,let them gather,let them come,the bastard whom they protect killed without mercy and we will show his supporters equally as much on the 30th!
Actually no: the rally in Sofia has been cancelled. See: Jock Palfreeman : November 24, 2009 Update.
PS. I do not know of any support for Jock coming from anarchists in Bulgaria. The above statement by the FAB suggests that, as far as they are concerned at any rate, there is none. I know very little about anarchist activity in Bulgaria.
1. Without a scratch – he got his life, with no serious injury, right? Nothing broken? Maybe he has a scratch from killing the other guy i don’t know…you tell me.
…from court transcripts…
December 28, 2007
Anton Zahariev:
There was already a fight between my friends and other people whom I do not know and have not seen before. Some of these people I believe were gypsies, however, I am not certain. I do not know who started the fight. My friends and I were around 10 people. (Anton later changed his statement in court.)
January 1, 2008
‘Hotel worker’:
I saw a boy (Jock) running from Stamboliski St. towards the metro, a group of people was chasing him. I cannot give any description of the boy running. Just before the entrance of the metro the group caught up with the boy, knocked him down and began to kick him. They kicked him around 30 to 40 seconds in no apparent order. As far as I could tell there was much strength behind their kicks. Then one of the people from the group came from behind the boy (Jock) and threw an object at him, as far as I could tell it hit his head and the boy fell to the ground.
‘Unnamed witness’:
I saw a few boys chase one boy (Jock) in the direction towards the metro. They caught up to him near the entrance of the metro and knocked him to the ground then began to kick him. I can’t give description of the boy that was running or the people that were chasing him. At first three or four of them were kicking him but after a few others ran over and also began kicking him. There was no coordination behind their movements, who ever decided to kick him just went over and kicked him. During this whole thing the boy (Jock) was on the floor.
February 5, 2008
Victor Lubomirov (police officer):
I understood that a group of around 10 boys had a fight with one or two people who were gypsies. We did not find these (gypsy) boys at the scene. I also understood that the other boy (Jock) came to defend the gypsies. (Officers Peter Kacarov, Krasimira Stoianova and Slavei Tconkov tendered the same statement.)
February 19, 2008
Martin Stoletov:
The boy (Jock) said in broken Bulgarian, “Back off, back off.”
October 13, 2008
Asen Stoichev (police officer):
I talked to Anton Zahariev and he told me that there was a fight between his group and others. Jock came over to help the minority and then the group attacked Jock. Jock tried to defend himself and … that is when Andrei was killed.
============
Re the alleged missing footage:
May 20, 2009: …Two pieces of video evidence have been referred to in court: one was ‘lost’. The prosecuting attorney offered a different (false) version of what was on the first piece of tape; the other video footage is still ‘lost’, however the presiding judge ordered for it to be found, and if not, for a report to be written as to what happened to it. To cut a long story short, Bulgarian police failed to secure the tape within a four-day period, and it was deleted. Subsequently, Jock’s lawyer requested that the HDD onto which the footage was recorded be examined. Somewhat miraculously, the HDD then up and exploded (the alleged result of a power surge). Then, when asked to have the HDD examined, it was instead — again, somewhat mysteriously — thrown into what is reportedly Bulgaria’s largest rubbish dump.
2. …In court they do not allow video recordings most of the times.
You may be right: I don’t know. I do, however, know that a witness was called upon in Jock’s case to provide testimony about the footage he was responsible for collecting and assessing. This person testified in court on September 28, 2009:
October 29, 2009:
@ndy, what is the source of your information? Can you show us the original scanned transcripts? Why the witnesses changed their statements several times!?
You can read the truth in Bulgarian here – http://www.andreymonov.com/truth.php
Also, take a look at the site and the innocent young boy who your bloody anarchist friend killed for pleasure!
@ FAB, Andrey had anarchist friends, ha-ha-ha. You are more populist than the prime-minister. Andrey is innocent and was murdered, but he had no anarchist friends, because you know what happen to your toothless heroes when they show up in sector “B”.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ON THE ANARCHIST MURDERER FREEMAN!
Heil Hitler!
Reichsprotektor:
“In short, we conclude that Adolf Hitler, upon occasion, had young ladies urinate or defecate on his head.”
Just another friend:
@ndy, what is the source of your information? Can you show us the original scanned transcripts? Why the witnesses changed their statements several times!?
The source of this info is the freejock site. You can read the transcripts in English and Bulgarian there. I do not have the original scanned transcripts, but I will ask to see if they’re available for upload.
Re changing stories: the original interviews conducted by police with, for example, Zahariev, were later ruled to be inadmissible by the court. Court testimony by Zahariev contradicts the original statement he gave to police, but it is the latter that has been accepted by the court.
Re police accounts: some have changed, some haven’t. I think it reasonable to assume that police accounts have changed in accordance with the prosecution’s needs. On the other hand, not all witnesses have altered their statements. Jock’s story has remained the same since the beginning; so too, that of several of the police, and Lindsay’s (Jock’s friend who accompanied him that evening).
The court process has dragged out over years, so to make a complete summary (on my part) would require a lot more time, space, energy, knowledge of Bulgarian, and access to the evidence. Presumably, whatever the failings of the prosecution, these may be raised at a later date during appeals, either to the Bulgarian courts, the EU, or other super-legislative bodies. Of course, a verdict and a sentence have yet to be delivered, so really it’s a question of waiting and seeing what the court decides, and on what evidentiary basis.
Finally, yes, the death of Andrey was a tragedy.
Look, we live in Bulgaria, not you. This is not the first case when witnesses change their views and people who are not involved suddenly start to remember imaginary things, of course influenced by the sound of the green ($$$).
Can you tell me who normal man or woman carry with himself/herself a military knife and stabs people in the back? What kind of self defense is that? Or maybe he just stood there and the boys slipped and fell upon his knife several times?
Andy was not the first victim of the Australian junkie! Freeman stabbed two boys in Sydney back in 2004. The freak just like stabbing people!
The death of Andy is a tragedy, but is also a murder. We are sick of foreigners who come to our country and act as if they are gods. No one has the right to kill other people, no matter if they are Gypsies, Bulgarians, Americans and so on.
The police didn’t find the imaginary gypsies who were “attacked” by Andy. They will not find them, because they exist only in Freeman’s drug polluted mind.
The original statements were actually blocked from court by not only the prosecutor, but by dr and mrs monov’s lawyers, and anton’s lawyer who all have equal rights as jock or the prosecutor
What’s also interesting is that when the request was put in to have anton’s original statement read in court, which contradicts the version he gave in court, HIS lawyer blocked his original statement! Even though he’s suing for 50 000 leva!
Anton’s wound was 1cm deep and 2cm wide on his chest (as far as i’m aware people’s chests are still in their fronts)
Not only does every witness confirm andrei was stabbed from the front, the forensic experts confirmed this too
The witnesses who have changed their stories simply changed them to “i’ve forgotten” so it still wasn’t against jock, there is now NO evidence confirming the prosecution’s statements other than the group of levski ultras south division members
The neutral witnesses fit into two groups: “i don’t remember” and confirmation for jock’s version of events
The CCTV played in court, taken from 6 cameras in the area (the 7th being deleted) do not show faces, but DO show the group attacking SOMEONE well before andrei was killed which is also on the video footage
Also it’s disgusting the FAB sacrifice their principles in the name of nationalism and racism, they should be expelled from the federation
drugar slav4o
Even through the facts, evidence and logic that surrounds Jock Palfreeman’s case of self defence, corruption and nationalistic pride has reared its ugly head once again, possibly swaying the case’s outcome and if not then at least biasing the popular opinion of it.
What is unbelievable is that people are so moved by their emotions, what they believe to be right and wrong, that they refuse to accept the facts. What Bulgarians seem not to realise is this is not only a reflection of the Bulgarian legal system, but on the Bulgarian people as a whole.
It is unfortunate that corruption seems to be synonymous with not just the Bulgarian legal system but with Bulgaria itself and this is something that is spoken about at great lengths throughout much of the European Union. The government’s corruption was, and correct me if I am wrong, the reason why the EU withdrew some of its subsidies from Bulgaria in 2008.
It seems that corruption is so much a part of life in Bulgaria that it is perfectly acceptable to pay off officials to destroy evidence or to change your statements during a trial to suit a point of view. There have been so many inconsistencies on the prosecution’s side, that if this case were to be tried in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Canada, they would have been laughed out of the courtroom. Add to this the media sensation it would have caused when key evidence was mysteriously lost and public confidence would be completely lost on the judicial system.
Despite the rhetoric, the facts shine brightly in this case, I fail to see how anyone can be too short sighted to see them. They have been outlined so many times above that I do not need to repeat them.
If this case were to be tried in any other country, it would be open and closed. If it’s incompetence the Bulgarians wish to portray, then congratulations, they deserve full marks – if it’s corruption they wish to demonstrate, it’s old hat, try something else.
Clean up your act Bulgaria, stop turning this into a fascist vs. anarchist fiasco, as this is not the point. The point is a fair trial, what everybody is entitled to despite their political affiliations.
It’s sad that the Sofia demonstration was cancelled, it was going to be a BLAST … at least for one of the parties involved. Jock will rot in prison for life.
Hurr hurr.
Hahaha have you seen the FAB’s latest attempt to help the fash?
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=1109074
Not only are they trying to stop help for Jock, and supporting the legal system, THEY’RE ASKING FOR A PUNISHMENT!
There are a new breed of patriotic anarchists I see! It’s good to see nationalist anarchists! Let’s me know everything is alright in Bulgaria!
I’ll translate the above into English later.
Славчо, осъзнай се преди и при теб да дойдем.
Andy, don’t worry about Hitler, he is dead and burned 🙂
Jock, on the other hand, will live and rot for 20 years in bulgarian prison, surrounded by turks and gypsies 🙂 Have fun!
Only death for ANARCHO-RED scum … Like this subhuman “Jock Palfreeman”. And yeah in our bulgarian prison … He sure will taste the essence and “BEAUTY” OF MULTICULTURE !
Reichsprotektor and PERSON,
I didn’t realise that the Bulgarian fascist movement could produce both poets and intellectuals.
They make Pound look like an amateur.
Local boofhead Luke Connors — who I think now must definitely have brain cancer from answering the millions of enquiries he received while promoting the Patriotik Yoof Leauge — is a big fan of Pound’s.
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