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Sat, May 26 2012
Two years of the Palfreeman case
Paul "Jock" Palfreeman
Photo: Georgi Kozhouharov
On December 28 2007 Australian Paul "Jock" Palfreeman, 22, was involved in a street brawl in Sofia that ended with the death of Andrei Monov, a law student and son of distinguished Bulgarian psychiatrist Hristo Monov.
Andrei Monov died after being stabbed.
On December 2 2009, Palfreeman was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after being found guilty of the first degree murder of Monov.
Palfreeman, from Sydney, had claimed he was trying to defend himself from a group of men when he intervened after seeing them attack a group of Roma.
But the prosecution had maintained that Palfreeman had not been provoked in any way and that the victims, who had been returning from a party at the time of the attack, had been forced to defend themselves by throwing stones and shouting for police assistance.
Three others were also injured in the fight, including 19-year-old Anton Zahariev, who suffered multiple knife puncture wounds.
After the verdict, Palfreeman’s father, Sydney pathologist Dr Simon Palfreeman, told journalists that the judicial process had been flawed. "The sentence was delivered following an investigation marred by a number of procedural violations," he said.
Andrei Monov’s father, psychiatrist Hristo Monov, said the court had conducted itself properly and "in any other country Palfreeman would have already been handed the harshest sentence". In Bulgaria’s case, this was life without parole.
As for Dr Palfreeman’s account of the actions and deportment of his son, Monov said: "It is a moral issue related to Jock Palfreeman’s upbringing."
Andrei Monov died after being stabbed.
On December 2 2009, Palfreeman was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after being found guilty of the first degree murder of Monov.
Palfreeman, from Sydney, had claimed he was trying to defend himself from a group of men when he intervened after seeing them attack a group of Roma.
But the prosecution had maintained that Palfreeman had not been provoked in any way and that the victims, who had been returning from a party at the time of the attack, had been forced to defend themselves by throwing stones and shouting for police assistance.
Three others were also injured in the fight, including 19-year-old Anton Zahariev, who suffered multiple knife puncture wounds.
After the verdict, Palfreeman’s father, Sydney pathologist Dr Simon Palfreeman, told journalists that the judicial process had been flawed. "The sentence was delivered following an investigation marred by a number of procedural violations," he said.
Andrei Monov’s father, psychiatrist Hristo Monov, said the court had conducted itself properly and "in any other country Palfreeman would have already been handed the harshest sentence". In Bulgaria’s case, this was life without parole.
As for Dr Palfreeman’s account of the actions and deportment of his son, Monov said: "It is a moral issue related to Jock Palfreeman’s upbringing."
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Dr Palfreeman’s story
Inconsistencies in testimony, ‘lost’ CCTV footage and missing witnesses were just some of the holes in a recent high-profile trial, according to the defendant’s father
The Jock Palfreeman case
On December 2 2009 Australian Jock Palfreeman was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after being found guilty of the first degree murder of Bulgarian Andrei Monov.
Palfreeman to lodge appeal
Jock Palfreeman's father, Dr Simon Palfreeman, was in Sofia to support his son during the closing stages of the trial
Palfreeman is given 20-year jail sentence
Judge's sentence comes after a lengthy trial punctuated by delays and intense media interest in Australia, including a documentary broadcast earlier this year.
Verdict expected soon in Palfreeman case
Palfreeman, whose case has become well covered by Australian media, has been in jail since May 2008; his trial has been marked by constant delays.
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The Sofia Echo
Dear Valeri,
Thank you confirming two points I made:
1. Prejudice against Roma is a fact
2. Mr Palfreeman was trying to help Roma victims...
This Australian is a criminal and has stabbed people in the past back in Australia.
I hope he enjoys the new and exciting love relationships he's developing in the Bulgarian prison;)
This will be a good opportunity for hem to get to know his newly acquired protégées;)
Our prisons are full of very amorous Romas;)
The men aleedgedly attacked were Roma...
According to wikipedia "Numerous cases have been cited regarding the ill-treatment of the Roma population by the Bulgarian police. There is widespread discrimination against the Roma in Bulgarian society, and as of 2006[update], the Bulgarian government has not implemented any laws legislating against the discrimination of Roma"
It would seem that Bulgarian Roma are unable to count on protection by the Bulgarian justice system. Should therfore, anyone trying to help Roma in need, expect better treatment?
One of the problems in this case seems to be the constant stream of inaccuracies
1 according to the court evidence only three people were hurt Monov, Zahariev and Palfreeman himself
2 Zahariev recieved one shallow wound only (again on the court records)
3 While Mr Monov is a psychologist he has been able to completely ignore the court evidence (in 2 very detailed expert reports commissioned by the court) that declares Palfreeman is a non violent man who has a high sense of social justice. If that is a [...]
Read the full comment result of his upbringing then there should be more of it
I'd like to hear more about the mass of evidence that was squashed by the prosecutors because of Monov's prominence as a psychiatrist in Bulgaria.
Rich kid thinks he's a football hoolie, attacks a poor Roma and then gets trashed.
Moral:Don't play with fire