Bulgaria Court Set to Resume Palfreeman Murder Trial

The Minicipal Court of Sofia (SSC) will resume the trial of Australian Paul “Jock” Palfreeman on Wedensday morning.

At the last hearing, on November 18, the prosecution had completed its presentation. A defense request for additional expert evidence to be admitted had been turned down on that occasion.

Palfreeman, who has declared his innocence, is accused of one charge of murder, and one of attempted murder. If convicted, he could be sentenced jailed for at least 15 years, but he could extradited to Australia to serve his sentence there.

Palfreeman is accused of murdering 20-year-old Andrei Monov in 2007 after an alleged street brawl. The fatal stabbing occurred in Sveta Nedelya Sofia square on December 28, 2007. Antoan Zahariev, Monov’s friend, was also severely wounded in the incident.

At an earlier court hearing in January, Polfreeman had stated that he had merely tried to defend himself from a group of men who attacked him.

He had admitted that he had a knife on him, and that he had taken it out to protect himself and two other friends of his.

Palfreeman was born in Sydney on 13 Oct 1986 and has visited Bulgaria on four occasions. He has no previous criminal record.

His father, Simon, will participate in the defense of the accused. The court has accepted the compensation claims of the parents of Monov and Zahariev. The claims are for BGN 200 000 and BGN 50 000, respectively.

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