Jock Palfreeman leaves jail but still doesn’t have a passport to come home to Australia
Photos of Australian Jock Palfreeman leaving a Bulgarian prison have emerged as he faces a new obstacle after being released half way through his murder prison sentence.
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Exclusive: Australian Jock Palfreeman was last night desperately hoping for a new passport after being released half way through his murder prison sentence.
The former Sydney private school boy took his first steps outside of his Bulgarian jail of 12 years and was expected to be taken to an immigration detention centre while he awaits his return to Australia.
Photographs show Palfreeman being led from Sofia Central Prison early yesterday morning AEST.
It was unclear exactly how long it would take him to get a new passport.
There has been widespread concern in Bulgaria folllowing a court’s decision to give Palfreeman parole, a decade into a 20-year sentence for murder.
Palfreeman told his parole hearing that he had learned from his time in jail but also questioned authorities.
“I have heard that the prison is a mirror of the society, then if the prison is the mirror of the society, why then we cannot discuss the act of the prison staff themselves,” he said this week.
“As much as I have been punished, as much as their orders have been taken away and the damages imposed by the Administrative Court, by the European Court of Human Rights for violating human rights rules I have not violated anyone’s rights for eleven and a half years.”
A transcript of the parole hearing stated that Palfreeman has moved in a “positive direction”.
“Before the trial, the convicted person had no criminal record. And during the execution of his sentence in prison, the prisoner has never at any time disclosed that he could pose a risk, either to the rest of the prisoners, to the staff or the administration,” a translation of a decision said.
Bulgarian officials have been concerned about Palfreeman’s parole, with the father of his victim saying the court owed the country an explanation.
Palfreeman was convicted of the stabbing murder of Andrei Monov and the attempted murder of Antoan Zahariev, in a street brawl in 2007.
He claimed that he had gone to the defence of a gypsy and then a knife, which he was carrying, was used to stab Monov.
He told a court he could not remember stabbing anyone before he was sentenced to 20 years in 2009.
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He set up a union for inmates and wrote letters to authorities on their behalf during his time in jail.
A friend of Palfreeman told News Corp his return home now depended on the Australian Government.
“Jock has no valid travel documents. He may therefore be detained in an immigration detention center pending his deportation while the Australian consular authorities issue him valid travel documents,” the friend said.
“This must happen very quickly, I am concerned about his safety. There is an outrage in the media and all types of hate groups are speaking up against his release.”
Dr Simon Palfreeman, Jock’s father, said his son finally found a court that had given him justice.
He was unsure of how or when he would get back to Australia.