Bulgaria abused the human rights of Michael Shields, the uncle of the jailed British teen told the SNA.

Joey Graney commented with shock and anger Friday's court decision to jail Shields, 19, for ten years. The appeal court downed the initial 15-year verdict, but upped a fine from EUR 60,000 to EUR 100,000.

"We're in the process of putting pressure on our government to intervene directly. We will be writing to all European countries, we will try to get in touch with Nelson Mandela," he told us.

Mr. Graney pledged that the family would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and claimed that Bulgaria's judiciary system was still "in the Dark Ages."

The fact that Michael is an Englishman made jurors increase the fine, Graney argued.

"They think Michael is an English lad, it's a rich country and they have the money to give. But Michael's mother is a cleaner, she's on the basic wage in England. His father is a part-time window cleaner."

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