I’ve been meaning to post a little moar about Jock for some weeks now, but yesterday I got a letter from him — oddly enough, only hours after I sent Jock a postcard — so I thought I might post a brief update.
For those of you coming in late, Paul ‘Jock’ Palfreeman is a 23-year-old Australian currently serving a 20-year sentence in Sofia Central Prison (Bulgaria) for murder and attempted murder. To be precise, on December 2, 2009, Jock was found guilty of premeditated murder and attempted murder with antisocial (hooligan) intent; in addition to imprisonment, Jock received a 450,000 leva (375,000 AUD) fine. Jock is also liable for 18,000 leva in court fees, and the 450,000 leva fine is also subject to tax (13,000 leva) and interest of 6–8% per annum (dating from December 2007).
Jock has always maintained that he acted in self-defence, after coming to the aid of two Roma men who he witnessed being beaten by a gang of fascist football hooligans on the streets of Sofia — more details regarding his defence are available on the ‘Free Jock’ website, established by his friends and supporters.
Jock’s letter states that from early January he was placed in isolation, unable to receive or send mail or to make phone calls: the duration of his isolation is unknown.
Of related interest to Jock’s case is the story of Michael Shields:
Brit wrongly jailed demands apology
The Age (AAP)
January 4, 2010A British man jailed in Bulgaria for a crime he didn’t commit is demanding apologies from both governments.
Michael Shields, 23, of Wavertree, Liverpool, received a royal pardon four months ago following his wrongful conviction for the attempted murder of a Bulgarian waiter.
He was released in September 2009 after spending four-and-a-half years in prison…
His comments come shortly after the family of a 23-year-old Sydney man handed a 20-year prison sentence for murder in Bulgaria vowed to appeal the ruling.
A Sofia Court last month found Paul “Jock” Palfreeman guilty of the murder of 20-year-old Bulgarian law student Andrei Monov and severely wounding Antoan Zahariev, 19, in a fight in Sofia on December 28, 2007.
Palfreeman, who has been in custody since the incident, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder, claiming self-defence.
He told the court he had run to help a man who was being beaten by a group of drunken football fans.
In Europe, there has been some small smattering of publicity regarding Jock’s case, and below are links to all the references among anti-fascist groups that I can find.
The Czechoslovak Anarchist Federation (CSAF) has a post on Jock’s case, promoting ‘One night in Sofia’, the highly-recommended half-hour documentary on Jock’s case produced by the ABC last year. (Note that the CSAF is a member of the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF-IFA), the Bulgarian member of which, the Federation of Anarchists of Bulgaria (FAB), has denounced Jock, as well as all attempts to act in solidarity with him.) Reference to Jock is also made in another Czech language blog — Monitoring všeho možného — here.
In December, the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) in Berlin reported that Jock Palfreeman in Bulgarien zu 20 Jahren verurteilt. The post appears to be a German translation of a post at the Bristol ABC blog, a version of which also appears on the Denver (USA) ABC blog. Another post concerning Jock — Bułgaria: Australijczyk skazany za obronę własną w walce z rasistami — appears on a Polish-language blog. Finally, AntiFascist Network is carrying a banner linking to the FreeJock site.
Bloody hell, how did they come up with a $375,000 fine with interest annually, people in that country would struggle to pay that over a working life.
Just wondering, why was he placed in isolation? And, if he was, he [how?] did he get his letter to you?
Did he get his letter to me? You mean the one I refer to above? Um… yes, he did.
Evidently.
It was sent early Jan; I received it last wk. (I can’t be more precise ’cause the letter is undated and the envelope it came in is not to hand; it was sent to me indirectly via others.) I’ve subsequently been informed that Jock was placed in isolation (for var minor infractions) on or about Jan 20 (iirc); he was unsure of the precise date at the time of his writing, as it had not been announced. I’m unsure how long he’ll be kept in isolation — it could be a few wks or several mths.
Prison life is like that.
Why do you ask?
would it be helpful to Jock to write letters to newspapers? or would it be detrimental to his case?
Bloody hell @ndy, he can’t even stay out of trouble in jail.
Minor infractions? Who did he stab this time?
Slob
Dunno why you’ve got this thing for Jock, but this is old news. Try Jock Palfreeman : February 2010 Update : Two Years in Isolation? instead.