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Australian Jock Palfreeman has taken his first steps outside a Bulgarian prison after serving more than 11 years in jail for the murder of a local student.
- Jock Palfreeman was sentenced to 20 years' jail for the murder of a man in December 2007
- Palfreeman always insisted he had come to the aid of a Gypsy who was being attacked by drunken youths
- The Australian worked as an advocate for reform in Bulgarian prisons during his 11 years in jail
Palfreeman, 32, took three steps out of the high-security Sofia Central Prison and then got into a waiting car. Migration authorities then drove him to the Busmantsi Detention Centre on the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital.
According to Palfreeman's lawyer, he must now wait for a passport and other travel documents before he can leave Bulgaria.
Palfreeman has spent 11 years, 8 months and 21 days locked up after being charged with murder, hooliganism and attempted murder in December 2007, following a melee in which Bulgarian law student Andrei Monov sustained a single stab wound to his side and later died.
The Australian has always argued he ran to the assistance of a Roma (Gypsy) being attacked by more than 12 young men and then had to act in self-defence when the men turned on him.
The prosecution argued at trial that he had attacked the group unprovoked.
He was sentenced to 20 years' jail in 2009 with a non-parole period of 10 years.
His application for parole was rejected in July, however, the appellate court found that he had been rehabilitated and ordered that he be released on parole.
Palfreeman's lawyer, Kalin Angelov, said he would meet with his client at the detention centre.
"What happens next I don't know," Mr Angelov said.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, human-rights, murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, crime, bulgaria, australia
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