SOUNDING BOARD: Shields and Barovsky

02:00 Mon 15 Aug 2005

These are edited extracts from the forum on www.sofiaecho.com:

ALL of us in Bulgaria who closely followed the Shields Case should feel ashamed of ourselves. Or even better: learn a lesson from the Brits on providing unconditional support to those of us who are in trouble.
How many of you are aware of the Barovsky Case? I wonder how far the Brits would have gone if a young UK architect and respected musician had been kept under arrest by another country’s authorities for almost 11 months before formal charges were raised against him? For those who want to read more, there is a web-site run by Nikolay Barovsky’s relatives and friends, however it is mostly in Bulgarian. (http://barovsky.
ludost.net/freedom/)
If Bulgarian is still a mystery to you, here’s the story in brief (I am writing this to the best of my knowledge):
Last September, the guy had to travel to Greece on business. A family friend asked him to deliver a package to her mother who lives there. What happened at the Greek border was that the officials had been tipped off to check Nikolay’s luggage. Opening the plastic bag (that had been handed to him by the “friend” at the last minute, just as the bus was departing from Sofia) for the first time, he found out there was a sports jacket inside and some other stuff not worth mentioning.
However, the customs authorities found a large amount of forged currency sewn inside the jacket sleeve. Nikolay’s been in lockup (Thessaloniki) since then.
As of yesterday, the case is finally going to court but without recognising key pieces of evidence gathered in Bulgaria. Our authorities have advised Barovsky’s supporters to... basically be quiet and wait for the Greeks to show mercy because - mark this! - nothing can be done and the stupid Bulgarian has to be punished for not checking what’s in his bag
One just can’t grasp the absurdity of it all...
Please spread the word and share your ideas with the campaign leader, Barovsky’s sister Lyudmila.
– MK

Injustice?

The Liverpool mob terrorised Golden Sands. The IRA terrorised the UK. The Bulgarians locked up the wrong man to send out a message that this behaviour would not go unanswered. The British locked up hundreds of innocent men, beat them and forced confessions to please these same idiotic northern thickheads who believe everything they read in the Sun or ol’ Vince from down the local tells them after 14 pints. The Guildford 4, the Birmingham 6, the Maguire 7. All of these men went through hell at the hands of the ALMIGHTY BRITISH just because they were Paddys. If anyone would disagree with me, then more examples of gross miscarriages of justice in Britain can be supplied. STILL DOES MAKE IT RIGHT THOUGH. If Sankey is the guilty one, send him back if he doesn’t go back then maybe all those witnesses who saw Michael do it are to be believed. The main thing is that the Scouses who were egging the poor lads on should hang their heads and shame! (You know who you are, you are bad old men and this is all your fault - I saw you all in action that night!!)
- Free Michael

The Barovsky case is not at all a justice vs. integrity deal. There is no “versus”, because the relatives defending Barovski do not want some injustice to be done. They want a fair trial as by law. How come the Greek authorities hold him 11 months without any charges? Why is his detention based on “possible new felony”, with his clean record and guarantees by 60 people?
– Lucy

Comments

Comments by Alan Harrison - 20:39 30 Apr 2006
	I have sympathy for Barovsky but there is little in common between this case and Shields'. It sounds like Barovsky was very foolish in taking someone else's luggage, but this is the defence of all drug and contraband smugglers - the authorities are right to charge him. Yes, he should have been charged swiftly and tried in a timely fashion but this in no way mirrors the Shields case. In Shields case he was railroaded into jail by a judiciary determined to look tough and to hell with fairness and objectivity. Barovsky broke the law, Shields probably did not. If your people care less about Barovsky's fate than Britons do about Shields then that is probably because here in Britain and the EU in general we expect high standards of fairness from the courts, something you should perhaps start demanding yourself, starting at home.