Jock Palfreeman: Jailed Aussie’s case sparks political war

Jock Palfreeman’s bid for release in Bulgaria has become mired in a political war, amid claims that authorities misquoted an Australian official.

Australian Jock Palfreeman’s bid for release in Bulgaria has become mired in a political war, amid claims that Bulgarian authorities misquoted an Australian official.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has denied that one of its officials had said that the Australian Government was comfortable with the way Bulgaria was handling his case.

Bulgaria’s Justice Ministry circulated a statement claiming that an Australian official had said that “everything was proceeding to Bulgarian law and there are no deviations in the judiciary process.”

Jock Palfreeman’s case is in limbo.

The statement also claimed the Australian official had said that Bulgaria’s courts were “absolutely independent.”

The comments appeared to be at odds with Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who has said she feared political matters were at play in the 32-year-old’s bid for a return to Australia.

Palfreeman is now in limbo after Bulgaria’s highest court reserved its decision on whether to revoke his parole, in what would be an unprecedented case.

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, who was at the meeting with the Australian official, has in turn called on Australia not to politicise the case, saying it was a consular matter.

Jock Palfreeman appears in court in Sofia, Bulgaria.

DFAT confirmed in a statement to News Corp that its official Jon Philp met with Bulgarian officials this week, but denied Bulgaria’s spin on the meeting.

“During that meeting, he reiterated Australia’s strong position that we would be concerned if factors other than legal considerations were influencing Mr Palfreeman’s case,” it said in a statement.

“Importantly, he raised Australia’s concerns that the legal basis for Mr Palfreeman’s continued detention remains unclear and that, consistent with parole being granted, he should be released and allowed to return to Australia.”

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DFAT said that Mr Philp had accepted Palfreeman had been given due process in a formal sense up until the point of his parole decision, which was later challenged in an extraordinary hearing this week.

“However, Mr Philp explicitly did not use the words that he has been quoted as using,” he said.

“He also expressed a range of concerns, including pointing to a risk that outside pressure might influence the outcome, which as previously stated would be of significant concern to Australia.”

Jock Palfreeman's lawyer Kalin Angelov at the Supreme Court hearing earlier this week.

Palfreeman has seven years remaining on his sentence for the stabbing murder of Bulgarian student Andrei Monov in 2007.

He has always claimed he acted in self-defence, arguing he went to the aid of two gypsies who were being attacked by a group of men.

Palfreeman has learned to speak Bulgarian during his time in jail and has set up a prisoners’ union to fight for their rights.

The former student of Sydney’s elite The King’s School faces a two-month wait for a decision on whether the court will revoke his parole.

The Bulgarian parliament was also due to debate new laws this week that would allow court-ordered parole decisions to be challenged.

It was unclear if the court delay was timed to allow the law to be passed.

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Originally published as Jock Palfreeman: Jailed Aussie’s case sparks political war