One year after a court granted him parole, Australian Jock Palfreeman remains stuck in Bulgaria where he can't live a normal life and fears what could come next.
The 33-year-old isn't allowed a bank account or a work visa, and lives in "constant fear" that authorities will find a way to put him back in prison, his father says.
The chief prosecutor's appeal of Palfreeman's parole was dismissed earlier this year but the Sydney man is still fighting to be able to leave the country, with his case expected back in court later this month.
"He's not allowed to live like a normal human being would be in Bulgaria," Dr Simon Palfreeman told SBS News.
Jock Palfreeman is pictured speaking to journalists in Busmantsi, Bulgaria in October 2019. Source: AAP
"It’s a situation that has become really quite farcical in that they have taken such great steps to basically subvert Jock’s human rights."
Palfreeman had spent nearly 12 years behind bars in the Balkan nation's capital when he was released on parole last September.
He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder for the stabbing two Bulgarian youths during a street fight in 2007 but has always maintained he acted in self-defence.
Palfreeman's father said the ongoing legal struggles following the parole decision had left them "very, very frustrated and fearful".
"It’s been an absolute rollercoaster of a trip from planning to have him come home last September, and to still be struggling with the legal system in Bulgaria all this time later," Dr Palfreeman told SBS News.
"There is actually no legal reason for Jock to still be in Bulgaria. There is no need for him to still be detained there.
"Every single obstacle that they have put up to keep Jock there has been overthrown by courts."
The 33-year-old, meanwhile, has expressed frustration at the official support he has received from home.
"Like my 12 years of prison and now another year after ... the Australian government has absolutely not done enough," Palfreeman told AAP.
But a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australia had provided all necessary requirements to assist him to depart Bulgaria when local authorities allowed it.
"Officials are closely monitoring legal developments in his case and will attend his next court appearance, later this month," she said in a statement to AAP.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal processes continue."
With AAP.
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