Australian Jock Palfreeman has been unexpectedly granted bail after serving 11 years behind bars for murder in Bulgaria.
Palfreeman, now 32, was serving a 20-year sentence for fatally stabbing Bulgarian law student Andrei Monov, 23, during a brawl in the capital Sofia in 2007.
He was granted bail by a panel of three judges on Thursday, the ABC reported on Friday.
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"I'm extremely pleased," Palfreeman's lawyer Kalin Angelov told the broadcaster.
"Surprised in a very good way."
Palfreeman's father Simon Palfreeman said from Newcastle the family hoped to be reunited him as soon as possible.
Earlier this year, Palfreeman went on hunger strike for 33 days in protest the unfair treatment he suffered for his role in the Bulgarian Prisoners' Rehabilitation Association, the country's first prisoner advocacy union.
Angelov said the hunger strike was in response to Bulgarian authorities cracking down on the Australian for exposing corruption in the country's prison system and the abuse of inmates.
