Foreign Minister Marise Payne has raised concerns with her Bulgarian counterpart at the United Nations about the ongoing detention of Jock Palfreeman, who remains behind bars despite being paroled.
Palfreeman's parole was granted by Bulgarian authorities last week after serving more than 11 years in jail for a fatal stabbing.
Despite the court ruling, the 32-year-old has not yet been allowed to leave the country and Senator Payne said she was working with the Bulgarian government.
Australian Jock Palfreeman remains behind bars. Source: AAP
"Given the parole decision, consular officials will continue engaging with the Bulgarian government on his situation and arrangements for his release," Senator Payne told AAP on Friday.
The Australian had been serving a 20-year sentence for fatally stabbing law student Andrei Monov, 23, during a brawl in the Bulgarian capital Sofia in 2007.
But a Court of Appeals panels unexpectedly ordered Palfreeman’s freedom last week and he was subsequently transferred to an immigration detention centre to await a new passport.
Having been paroled, he’s officially a free man under Bulgarian law but remains in the detention centre.
Jock Palfreeman (C) as he arrived for his trial at Sofia City Court in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Source: AAP
In an interview from the Busmantsi Detention Centre, the 32-year-old took aim at how the Australian government had handed his case.
"The time for Australia to step up diplomatic pressure on Bulgaria was 11-and-a-half years ago," he told the ABC.
"Successive Australian governments have failed to do anything about my situation … my hope that the Australian Government would help me was gone many years ago."
He also told the ABC that Australian consular officials had told him the Bulgarian immigration department had refused to speak with them about the case.
“The Bulgarian authorities responsible for keeping me in prison ... have blanked the Australian embassy staff. That was yesterday. I don’t know what the situation is today,” he told the ABC on Thursday.
“The embassy staff made me a new passport on Friday and brought it on Monday and an official copy was given to the immigration staff on Monday,” he said.
“The media (in Bulgaria) is being lied to (when they’re being told by politicians) that as soon as I get a passport I’m allowed to leave. That’s not true.”
Palfreeman could also face further legal dramas, with Bulgaria’s highest court agreeing to hear an application from the country’s prosecutor-general to send him back to prison.
His father Simon and stepmother Helen are devastated their hopes of his homecoming may be dashed.
"It was pretty devastating to think that he was almost back and then suddenly there's this other development where they're trying to block him coming home," Simon Palfreeman told ABC's 7.30 on Thursday.
Senator Payne’s office had attempted to secure a meeting with her Bulgarian counterpart, but so far Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva has declined, saying her schedule was full.
"They wanted to meet yesterday but my schedule is full," she told local media.
"We crossed paths for a minute at the multiculturalism event. She said there was an issue, but I asked her to come back to us via their consul if they have any questions. There was no meeting."
Marise Payne has reached out to her Bulgarian counterpart. Source: AAP
Palfreeman has consistently maintained he acted in self-defence when stabbing Mr Monov after intervening to prevent Mr Monov and a group of friends attacking two Roma men.
Mr Monov’s parents were influential in Bulgarian politics and the 23-year-old’s funeral was attended by the head of Bulgaria’s court of appeal and other senior political figures.
Palfreeman left Australia to travel around Europe when he was 19 and arrived in Bulgaria in 2006.
He admitted to carrying a butterfly knife at the time of the fatal stabbing and had reportedly carried pepper spray at other times after witnessing a number of assaults.
