Bulgaria has given the first indication that it does not plan to resume the trial against Michael Shields, who was sentenced by a Bulgarian court to ten years in jail for an attack on a barman, but was recently pardoned by his home country.
"Varna district prosecutor's office, which was the first to receive the dossier on the case, said there are no grounds for resuming the trial against Michael Shields," Stelyana Kozhuharova, spokesperson of the country's senior prosecutor, said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Varna prosecutor's office has also probed the statements of fellow Liverpool fan Graham Sankey, who allegedly confessed to attacking Martin Georgiev then withdrew his admission.
A final decision on how Bulgarian authorities will proceed is yet to be taken.
Michael Shields has repeatedly stated that he wants to clear his name in Bulgaria. During the trial he insisted he was asleep in bed when a concrete slab was dropped on Martin Georgiev's head in a Bulgarian pub.
Another Liverpool fan Graham Sankey, then 20, later confessed to the crime but refused to come back to Bulgaria and give evidence in person. The Bulgarian authorities then refused to consider the evidence.
Sankey subsequently retracted his confession and his solicitor said his client was involved in a different fight.
It is that confession which appears to have persuaded UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw to grant the pardon, although, in an extraordinarily detailed statement issued by the Ministry of Justice on the day of the release he did not mention Sankey by name.
Instead he explained that he had initially felt bound to respect the verdict of the Bulgarian court until being advised after a judicial review this year that it was within his power to grant a pardon.
Author: Bill, 6 Oct 2009 14:35:04
Bulgaria May Give up Taking Michael Shields to Court Again
Basically, what the court is saying here is that it was right in the first place, and nothing has come out of England to the contrary.
Author: jay211, 6 Oct 2009 19:52:48
justice
in answer to michael served all but 6 months of his sentance ,if had been in a prison in bulgarian he would have been free anyway,and for information this youngman did not commit this crime did not know the thug who commited the crime ,had to pay 93,000 in compensation to the victim and serve 4yrs three months for a crime he did not commit ,iam sick and tired of idiots who no nothing about this crime ,no nothing about the police taking bribes to let the real thug go free ,no nothing about about a corrupt judicial system covering up the corruption involved in this case,as for the varna prosocuters office openibg this case or going after the real thug theres no chance, michael is still asking the bulgarian government to investigate this case take your head out of your know all arse ,and ask yourself why is he still fighting for justice in bulgaria and if you cant find a reason why martin goergiev is still saying it was michael,i will give you 93,000 reasons why he doesnt want michael to be given a pardon in bulgaria ,
Author: Bill, 6 Oct 2009 20:05:18
justice
jay211;
Can't agree with that. You state that he didn't commit the crime, didn't know the thug who did, etc. How are you so sure of that? You weren't any nearer to this brawl than other forum members, were you? How did you come by all this knowledge, and if it's true, why didn't you testify?
I haven't seen anything yet which proves the court was corrupt in the way it handled the case. It might be different when a big politician or a mafioso is the defendant, but there's no reason in this case to bring that up as an excuse. So far as I can tell from my distance, the defense had every chance in the world to collect witnesses and information, and I'm reasonably sure that if they had sent a request to England to have the others come to Bulgaria to testify, that request would have been granted.
Any court trial faces the judge and/or jury with the problem of which side is telling the truth, and they have to rule on the basis of their own personal convictions under the law that applies. There's no evidence anywhere along the line that this wasn't done.
What the Bulgarian court is saying now is that nothing's come to their attention which would change the original ruling, and they're not going to reopen the proceedings. If someone DID come up with convincing evidence, I'm sure they would.
Author: Sveto, 6 Oct 2009 20:14:30
Bulgaria May Give up Taking Michael Shields to Court Again
Yes Bill,
The court is also saying that there is way too much political pressure in England involved (who would think possible in such a democracy with “zero corruption”).
So although completely right the verdict, it seems better to let it go, especially since the “BIG JUDGE” of England just decides he has enough power to pardon this schmuck. I’m having here nothing against British people in general, since I don’t suffer from the same superiority complex.
Author: BULERICAN, 6 Oct 2009 20:15:20
justice
Author: jay211, 6 Oct 2009 19:52:48
justice
in answer to michael served all but 6 months of his sentance ,if had been in a prison in bulgarian he would have been free anyway...
JAY,
No one here really gives a damn about Michael (hooligan thug) Shields anymore. Arrested, Convicted, Served his time. Pardoned, end of story. Unfortunately Mr Georgiev will have to live with his injuries and ongoing operations for the rest of his life. Michael will probably get royalties for the book he will write, and the movie as well.
Shields should simply be thankful that the bogus confession from Sankey convinced Straw to grant the pardon, although the confession turned out to be offered under duress.
BTW M8 are you British ?
Do you speak english ?
When you next post, please attempt to spell the words properly, and use a little punctuation, I have never in my life seen a sentence thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat long with so many spelling errors, you no(know)...
Or was your entire post a factual reflection of the Liverpudlian Educational System ???
DON,
Dr Faust I am not, I am but I, and will always be.
Author: Bill, 6 Oct 2009 20:39:57
Bulgaria May Give up Taking Michael Shields to Court Again
Sveto.
Absolutely. This is what I've been arguing all along. No one has come forth with any usable evidence to refute the prosecution, so the court ruled accordingly. Nothing "corrupt" in that. The defense doesn't have to "prove" innocence, but they have to discredit the prosecution sufficiently to create doubt.
BULERICAN's point is also well taken. All this post-mortem "debate" on this forum isn't going to change anything, so it's all a waste of time and space.
What it amounts to, in my view, is a frantic attempt by the Liverpudlians to discredit the court.
A much more serious issue arises, though, namely the overruling of a foreign court by a different country. As a precedent this stinks. And we now have two cases of it, and ironically both of them involve Bulgaria. Bulgaria's on thin ice complaining, because it's exactly what they did with the nurses.
No matter how you look at it, though, public outcry should never influence a court.
Author: BULERICAN, 6 Oct 2009 21:34:30
Bulgaria May Give up Taking Michael Shields to Court Again
"Bulgaria's on thin ice complaining, because it's exactly what they did with the nurses. "
BILL,
The Libyan court was not a court of law...
It was a Sharia court... Thus the death sentence, then the acceptance of blood money to dissuade the imposition of the death sentence.
Transfer of the "convicted" followed, with the immediate pardon.
A Sharia court is an Islamic fantasy of justice.
Author: Bill, 6 Oct 2009 21:53:36
Bulgaria May Give up Taking Michael Shields to Court Again
Bulerican:
I won't dispute that with you, but be that as it may, it's the law of the land. Now if the officials are corrupt enough to do this sort of thing, that's another matter.
However it just doesn't seem right that one country can overturn another's judicial system. We can think their system is a travesty. They probably think ours is spineless. The Arabs cut the hands of thieves off. I think there's some merit in a similar punishment for rapists.
