Jock Palfreeman, a young Australian anti-fascist currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for defending 2 young Roma lads being brutally attacked by fascist thugs, was attacked along with a group of his fellow prisoners on October 17. here is a statement released by him:
On the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Association’s blog I have up until now not written much if anything about myself in an attempt to keep the Association’s blog neutral and equal for all issues and prisoners in Bulgaria and specifically Sofia Central Prison. However, I have done this at the expense of not reporting the prison’s attacks against myself for my unionism and solidarity with other prisoners, in an attempt to reform the corrupt prison administration, however on Thursday 17th of October an incident occurred involving myself that must be published.
At 8.30am a guard was counting prisoners for roll call, he quickly entered a cell and demanded that all 11 occupants exit the cell into the cold corridor, but before 10 of them could react he quickly left the cell and locked the door (the speed in which he left and locked the door made it evident that the guard was looking provocation). I Jock Palfreeman was not asleep but the guard did not see me as I had just exited the toilet and I was standing behind him in the guard’s blind spot, the guard swore at the 10 prisoners and said “now you’re going to see what will happen to you”. However when the guard locked the cell door, I immediately banged on the door as it was getting close to when I had to go to my university studies at 9am. One of the guards shouted “you’re too late for roll call”, I replied “I’m not too late I have been up since 7am, you just didn’t see me as I just left the toilet, I was standing behind you”, the guard from the previous shift told me that he would open the door for me, but the guards started arguing with each other, one wanted to open the door, the other wouldn’t let him. The guards left the block at about 8.45am. I sat down and waited to be let out to go to the study room, but at about 8.50am 50 guards rushed into the cell, took all of us out of the cell, 11 people, all of whom had not been in bed since the argument with the guard at 8.45am. The guards took all of us into the corridor and started viciously beating all of us. They used their boots, batons and also punches with their fists, they also took us by the hair and rammed our heads against the wall, myself included. They lined us up against the wall and about 50 guards started beating everyone from behind. We were 3 Iranians, 6 Iraqis, 1 Sudanese and myself – Jock Palfreeman – citizen of Sofia Central Prison. The guards were comprised of two shifts, from the days of the 16th and the 17th. There were 2 commanding officers and 2 sub-commanding officers and the rest were normal prisoner guards.
During the attack I was shouting “this is a crime” and other prisoners were shouting “Why?”, because they did not speak Bulgarian, all they could say was “Why?”. After the attack had finished, I started to explain to the commanding officer that I didn’t have anything to do with any problem, the guard making the roll call had simply not seen me and that after I explained the situation to him he had refused to re-open the cell door again and that I had the right to go to the study room at 9am. As I was explaining this, the same guard from the roll call, burst through the other guards, grabbed my shoulder from behind and started hitting me in the stomach and upper body. After this individual guard had finished beating me the commanding officer started threatening us, he said “I don’t care about the human rights organisations, I don’t care about your embassies, this is Bulgaria and we will beat you when we want”, I started to argue with him and he shouted “Shut up or I’ll cut off your beard and shave your head”, this threat perplexed me as it seemed out of context for the violent environment the guards had just put us through. I was shocked into silence as the threat was just so random and although very illegal, somewhat comical.
We were put back in the cell and the guards left. At 9.05am a group of us went to the bars that divide the block’s corridor from the stairs that leave to the block’s exit. Several prisoners wanted to go to the gym as it was their allocated time at 9am, others wanted to go to the Bulgarian language lessons also set at 9am, and I wanted to go to the study room for my own studies. But the same guard from the morning roll call refused to open the corridor gate and instead ran away. I believe that he thought that everyone was coming to him in a big group so as to seek revenge for his previous attack against 17th cell. The guard was an old guard but new in Sofia Central Prison and so as is typical in Bulgarian institutions, none of his superiors properly instructed him to the fact that at 9am many prisoners have to leave the block to go to their respective activities (which aren’t many so should not have been hard to have known). So the guard upon seeing people gathering around the gate ran and called the commanding officer thinking that a group was assembling for revenge for the guards’ earlier attack. We could hear him on the phone downstairs telling the commanding officer that a large group of prisoners are at the gates and that he needed help.
About 5 minutes later (which is amazing reaction time considering it can take over 30 minutes for medical help) 30 guards came running up the stairs and they assembled outside the gate of 10th group. They told all the prisoners to go into their cells, which all the prisoners did, including myself. The guards then tried to open the gate but they soon found out they couldn’t. I looked out of my cell and saw that there was a pad lock on the inside of the gate that the guards couldn’t reach. They tried by force to open the gate by barging it, but the padlock wouldn’t break. I then realized that this was my only opportunity to call for external help. I took my prison phone card and went to the phone in the corridor about 2 metres from the gate where the guards were and I called a lawyer, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and the Australian consulate. The guards started banging on the metal gate with metal rods, shouting and they also turned on the block’s siren to try and drown out my conversation with the consul and the lawyer. I told them one by one “please come ASAP, the guards beat us at 8.45 and they’re coming again to beat us”. After I made my phone calls I returned to my cell at 9.11, we know the exact time due to the recorded phone calls.
What is also interesting is at this time the prison told all the lawyers to leave from the lawyer consultation room at the other end of the prison then the prison administration shut down the lawyer consultation room. The prison administration tried all they could to try and stop their crime from leaving the premises of the prison and the confines of the prison administration. It is also completely illegal to expel lawyers from the prison premises, even more so during working hours. The right for a prisoner to meet with his/her lawyer is non-negotiable and this was another extreme violation of prisoners’ rights.
A prisoner from prisoner maintenance Budimir Kujovic came and cut the lock off the gate at about 9.15am and the guards ran into the empty corridor as if they were charging down for a rugby ball despite the total lack of aggression from the behalf of prisoners. They locked all the cell doors and entered 17th cell, my cell. They again started beating everyone with batons, punches, kicks and ramming heads against walls. After they stopped beating us I asked the sub-commander “why have you come back to this cell? Why are you angry with us specifically?” the sub-commander replied “you (collective ‘you’) have made us come back twice today”, I said “we didn’t make you come one time, people wanted to go to their work and the gym and that guard called you here”.
Despite the beatings I was completely calm as were the other 10 prisoners. They handcuffed us all and they said “ok now we will start the search for telephones”. 5 minutes into the search I was taken out of the block and put into a temporary holding cell on the other side of the prison. I asked the arresting officer “why have you restrained me in handcuffs?” he replied “we (the guards) have been sick of your group for over two months now”, meaning that the problem wasn’t with me individually but rather the guards were trying to make a collective punishment on the entire group.
A normal search of a cell would take about 45 minutes, however they searched the cell for about 3 hours and confiscated only an undocumented hotplate for cooking and furniture. No mobile phone was found and the guards went crazy that not a single mobile could be found, this is as they are all acutely aware of the problem of corruption within the prison administration and therefore presume that every prisoner has a mobile. The same guard who had provoked the two incidents then came to me in the temporary holding cell and tried to intimidate me to sign as a witness for the search in 17th cell that had been carried out without me, I flatly refused and explained that I would not be a witness for something that I didn’t in fact witness.
With nothing illegal found in the cell, the guards then tried threatening other prisoners to testify against me, but out of about 100 prisoners not a single one would lie, all of them stuck to the truth as they saw and heard it. I was kept in the temporary holding cell (which can be said to be less then comfortable) all day, but allowed visits from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a lawyer and the Honorary Consul of Australia. At 4.30pm I was returned without explanation to 10th group, but needless to say all my personal belongings had been thrown around, destroyed or confiscated. The prison administration wanted to put me in isolation, but could not find legal grounds to do this especially as my lawyer was present. So they took the administrative decision to move me from my old cell to a different cell, in a petty attempt to increase my discomfort, however for those of you who know me personally, you know I love camping!
An ‘investigation’ was carried out and concluded by the prison administration but has yet to be revealed, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee have conducted their own investigation as well as the Ombudsman’s office of Bulgaria. The matter has been referred to the regional prosecutors office, but experience tells us not to expect anything when it comes to the Bulgarian state investigating itself. The instigating guard was not moved from the block and on Monday the 21st of October he started threatening prisoners to not testify against him; however on the 25th of October he was moved to another place within the prison to separate him from his victims.
This is another case of unacceptable violence against the human rights of prisoners in Bulgaria, the commanding officers should be sanctioned, failing this the Association asks for the resignation of the Director Peter Krestev, so that law might prevail within Bulgarian prisons!
Jock Palfreeman
Chairman
Bulgarian Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Association
Jock Palfreeman gets 20 years in Bulgaria
Self-defence is no offence
Jock is a young Australian man, with British connections, who a few years ago visited Bristol for a while. He hung out mainly in East Bristol around the alternative scene, went to The Plough pub etc.
After nearly 2 years on remand in Sofia Central prison, Bulgaria, he was on 2 December 2009 found guilty of of premeditated murder and attempted murder with antisocial (hooligan) intent. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, and a 450,000 leva (375,000 Aussie dollars) fine.
Jock in court (photo from campaign website)
The bare facts of the case are these: in late December 2007 Jock was on a night out in Sofia. Quite late in the evening he saw a group of at least 15 men attacking 2 Roma (gypsy) people. It is generally accepted this group were football hooligans, with neo-nazi tendencies, and this was a racist attack (the Roma are heavily persecuted in Bulgaria). Jock intervened, and the Roma escaped. The gang turned on Jock and attacked him with concrete blocks. He defended himself with a knife, killing one attacker and injuring another. Unfortunately for him, the dead man came from a well-known Bulgarian family of high status.
2 years on he has been found guilty, after a trial littered with dubious activities – missing video footage, changed witness statements, failure to interview key witnesses, conspiracy by the gang and almost certainly the cops, other evidence refused in court, abuse of procedures and Jock’s rights. There seems little doubt to us that this became both a political trial and a miscarriage of justice. We have contacted his campaign to see what we can do to help.
View his campaign website FreeJock.net to read about the case, the true facts, and his defence. You will also find his prison address there.
Did you know Jock in Bristol? If you did please support him – details on his campaign website.
This is Jock’s post-trial statement on 3/12/09:
“The decision made by the Sofia City Court on Wednesday 2 December 2009 was in complete contradiction to all available evidence put before the court.
In the face of all neutral witness statements, testimony from the police, forensic reports, psychological reports, blood alcohol results and the CCTV video footage that confirm my account of events, word for word, in concurrence with my testimony, the court has still declared me guilty of attacking a gang of men with no provocation and/or reason and of the premeditated murder of one man and the attempted murder of another.
This is not only an abomination of justice and my right for a fair and objective trial, but also a green light for football hooligans to continue their attacks on other law abiding members of society, especially racial minorities who are a prime target for such groups within Bulgaria, the EU and the world.
With the blatant bias in every facet of the justice system, from my arrest and investigation to the decision of Sofia city court, I reject the verdict of wilful murder for anti-social motives and I plead with all members of society from Bulgaria to Australia and all countries between, to help in stopping these 2 years of unjust imprisonment from becoming a 20 year unjust imprisonment.”
Free Jock Palfreeman, jailed Anti-Fascist (Bulgaria)
Jock Palfreeman is a 23 year old Australian who had the courage to stand up against 16 Nazis on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria. He witnessed the fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys. Jock ran to the boys’ aid, he did his best to keep the Nazis at bay by waving a knife at them but they attacked him. Jock was left with nowhere to run and had no choice but to defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the Nazis, was stabbed and killed and another, Antoan Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away.
Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder. He has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been fined 375,000 Australian dollars.
Andey Monovs Father is well known in Bulgaria and at the funeral there were a mixture of judges, police and politicians.
Jock’s trial was a complete sham-yet another example of corruption and secret hand shakes in the judicial system. The prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made by the other Nazis that were there that night, all claiming that Jock randomly attacked the group and chased them with the intent of killing somebody. Key people and possible witnesses were never interviewed by police and CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went missing and many of the statements made at the time were not the same as the statements submitted to the court by the prosecution. Jock has two appeals before his sentence becomes final.
We must campaign to free Jock and put pressure on Bulgarian authorities to accept his appeal. If his charges were downgraded to excessive use of force during self-defence, he would be already out. We must make sure that this
judicial farce is highlighted and that they will not be able to repeat it again.
Jock has its appeal on 21st of October- it is his only chance to walk free. We need to do everything we can in order to get him out of there. There is going to be an international Day of Action for Jock on 19th. If you can organise an
event in your are please get in touch with us anarchosolidarity(at)yahoo.com . It is also of vital importance to keep
pressure with protest messages and smaller actions up till this time.
More messages to follow. Please distribute this appeal widely, put it on your blogs, websites, forums, email lists.
Anarchist Solidarity
more information about the case on: www.freejock.net
What you can do:
-write to Jock – letters help him survive this difficult time and keep his spirits high:
Jock Palfreeman
Sofia Central Prison,
21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309,
BULGARIA
– Organise solidarity actions outside Bulgarian embassies, consulates etc.- use your creativity !
-Write messages of protest to Bulgarian authorities. It can be letters, faxes, emails or you can even even phone calls.
We include sample letter, but you are welcome to write your own message.
–
Sample message:
To whom it may concern
We are writing in regards to Australian national Jock Palfreeman currently imprisoned in Bulgaria. Palfreeman had been sentenced to 20 years of prison for defending a passer-by and later on, himself from a vicious attack by a group of drunken football hooligans. As a result one of the attackers died and another got injured. Despite it being a clear case of self-defence and his version of events being supported by numerous witnesses, his trial was a farce. Anything working in favour of his defence was completely ignored by the judge.
We demand that Bulgarian authorities grant him appeal and that he will be acquitted of murder charges. We will be watching the next actions of the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. We will not rest until Jock Palfreeman will get his appeal and is acquitted from those absurd charges.
Addresses to send your protests:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2, Aleksandar Zhendov Str., Sofia 1040, Bulgaria
Tel.: +359 2 948 2999 +359 2 948 2999
Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel.: +359 2 971 14 08 +359 2 971 14 08 g, 971 37 78, 948 22 18
Fax: +359 2 870 30 41
e-mail: iprd@mfa.government.bg
Ministry’s Reception Desk
Tel.: +359 2 948 20 18 +359 2 948 20 18 971 10 54
In the work days from 9.30 to 12.00 h and from 14.00 to 16.00 h
Ministry of Justice:
pr@justice.government.bg
http://325.nostate.net/?p=1087#more-1087
In Response to the C.C.F Proposal for a “Black International” by anti-fascist prisoner Jock Palfreeman (Bulgaria)
325 receives and transmits:
Greetings and solidarity
To all the prisoners of war we call comrades.
My name is Jock Palfreeman, I’ve served almost 4 years of a 20 year sentence for defending two Roma against a nationalist attack of 15. I was charged with the murder of one and the attempted murder of another. My case is documented further at freejock.com and I don’t wish to waste words on it here.
For almost 4 years now I’ve been officially kidnapped in Sofia Central Prison – state of Bulgaria. The realities of my case censured from the Bulgarian public by a state sponsoring media. I stay strong and look forward to the next 16 years as I know with all the essence of my being that what I did was right.
Prisoners of War are not victims of injustice like the “liberals” speak about in their self-justifying wank. We are willing enemies of the capitalist state and their organs.
Prison should not be glorified as a prisoner knows there is nothing glorious about prison. We are quadriplegics, deaf, dumb and blind. But this is an admittance of success imparted by the state.
Protests are sanctified by the capitalist state as the state knows that all protests have parameters and within these perimeters the demands of the people are annulled.
I would be so arrogant as to presume that many incarcerated comrades who took up means of direct action did so after several wasted years of shouting in endless marches to the bemusement of the petty bourgeois shop owners. Indeed the only benefit of this wasted time in our lives is that we now understand that it was wasted.
Protestors are not jailed as they pose no threat to the status quo of the capitalist elite. In this regard we must ask ourselves “why are we in prison?”. Exactly as we do pose a threat to the status quo. Incarceration is the state’s acknowledgement that we challenge their legitimacy to control our lives. Due to this knowledge I wake up (almost) every morning with a smile. Although our enemies still sit on the throne of oppression, that throne is shaken.
We as prisoners of war should draw further strength from those who came and went before us. From the Greek students who stared down the guns of the state as they invaded the universities to the miners in Australia at the Eureka stockade. What we share with these people spanning through history as well as national or cultural bounds is that we’ve all declared “enough is enough” despite the real potential of death or capture we’ve all followed our conscience first.
We became enemies of the capitalistic state as we refused to live under their submission without resistance. Although we are in “prison”, we always were, as the comrades outside still are. The cameras recording our lives, secret files collected on us, infiltrations of our organizations, police attacks and murders, censorship and brainwashing. The only difference between the state inside the prison walls and outside them is quantity. The crimes of the capitalist state that are committed against the outsiders are the same committed against us insiders and the crimes committed by the state within the prison walls you can be certain are committed against the outsiders. The only difference is the quantity of the same oppression.
Specifically I’m speaking to the comrades who have never been incarcerated. Every attack or set up you’ve experienced at the hands of the state agents, we experience it every day. Every beating you’ve experienced, we experience it every day. Every time you’ve felt hungry, we experience hunger every day. Every time you’ve experienced a cold night, we experience it every night of winter. We share the exact same problems inside and outside of prison, but the state uses the separation in prison to focus its tyranny. In prison it’s purified and concentrated.
As we share the same tyranny as our comrades outside we also share the same hopes and dreams. I remember EVERY act of solidarity with my case. My heart jumps with joy with every blow against capitalism. I sing the Internationale and I smile. Because I know there is no end, but the end of capitalism. When I think of the comrades from the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire who showed such extraordinary solidarity I feel a pain of guilt in my heart that comrades were sentenced so harshly for their acts of solidarity. Yet instantly my heart rejoices as I know why they did what they did. I know they knew the repercussions of their actions before committing them. It was wholeheartedly and consciously that they decided to show solidarity in the only meaningful way possible to so many prisoners of war.
Relatively out of context, I’d like to highlight my problems that affect me in prison. Although pan European solidarity has been shown (including direct action) there still remains a total lack of solidarity or direct action within the state of Bulgaria. Not a single murmur of solidarity from where it should be expected the most. My proposal or idea is to export resistance from where it is plentiful to where it is lacking. All too often I read about solidarity actions being committed in different states to where the issue is located. But Bulgaria seems to be a complete black hole on the European map of resistance. With the cross workings of European states, including Europol, N.A.T.O. and businesses, we too must be more prepared to contribute to “foreign” actions. We must be more prepared to seek out the enemy behind any borders s/he is hiding behind, despite cultural, lingual or national differences. How is it possible that Greece is on the brink of revolution, yet in Bulgaria hordes of fascists burn the houses of Roma unopposed? I stopped asking the question “where are the Bulgarian comrades in Bulgaria?” many years ago. Now I ask: “Where are the Greek comrades in Bulgaria?”. How can such a thing as a state border be such a separator of a movement that claims it holds no value for borders? Our comrades in Eastern Europe are greatly outnumbered. In Bulgaria there is no resistance to fascism, only the empty words of the “liberals” who have the nerve to call themselves anarchists. As far as I know, I’m the ONLY anti-fascist in prison in Sofia, you might think that is a good thing, but it can’t be forgotten that we are their enemies; the lack of anti-fascists in Bulgarian prisons is reflective of the lack of resistance.
Although I have no contact with the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire (CCF), or the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), I recognize that they are part of an effective minority. While the “liberals” try to negotiate with the non-negotiable, the organisations like the CCF and the FAI are the only ones who scare the plump politicians. The CCF and the FAI are the physical manifestations of the desires of many who are too scared to realise them. The obvious evolution is the Black International, whereby the states that hold our prisoners of war will know that we will not be forgotten as numbers on files in a prison archive. As we pay with our lives, that state should not be held any less accountable for their crimes then they hold us accountable.
LONG LIVE THE CCF, UNTIL THE WORLD STOPS SPINNING
RAGE FROM THE CAGE
Comrade Jock
Letter to ABC Brighton by Jock Palfreeman – Antifascist on Hungerstrike (UK, Bulgaria)
21st January 2013
G-day guys! All at ABC-Brighton,
Well, first of all, the Director stopped me from my Uni degree! See I’ve been helping other prisoners, obviously part of the union and solidarity with fellow convicts. So to punish me, for my solidarity ie legal advice! the Director of the prison cut me off from the computers where I write my essays. It happened several days ago after 10 guards badly beat a prisoner with batons. I helped the prisoner get legal advice and explained to him the procedure for how to instigate a criminal investigation into their attack. For that I’m being punished in that they are stopping me from my studies.
So on the 13/1/13 I started a hunger strike, I have not eaten since then, I am only drinking water drinks eg mint tea (without sugar) and normal water. I have lost a lot of weight in 9 days but I don’t know how much as the prison refuses to send a doctor to me. I don’t plan on stopping until I am returned to my studies, but I don’t think this director will allow me, so prospects look dim! To help me, please send letters of complaint to:
Ministry of Justice
Diana Kovacheva
No. 1, Slavanska Street
Sofia 1040
Bulgaria
I recommend writing as individuals.
22nd January 2013
Hunger strike…. not happy, the worst is that I’m getting bad heart burn from my stomach acids!
Be good guys!
Solidarity
Comrade Jock Palfreeman
Anti-fascist prisoner Jock Palfreeman Ends His Hunger Strike – But Still Needs Your Support (Bulgaria)
Australian Anti-fascist prisoner Jock Palfreeman, serving 20 years in Sofia/Bulgaria for defending two Roma boys from a racist mob, was on hunger strike from the 13th January 2013. The Director of the Central Sofia Prison had ordered another punishment measure because of Jock´s activist work as chairman of the Bulgarian Prisoner´s Association. Due to this punishment Jock is now not allowed to finish his studies which is very important to him.
After 30 days Jock ended his hunger strike because he got an answer from the Bulgarian authorities. The prison administration responsible for his case answered that he can only study in a Bulgarian University, and not in a foreign one. But, if he wants to study in a Bulgarian Unviersity he cannot do this from prison, so he is not permitted to continue his studies. This ‘official’ answer means that he can now apply in the courts against the decision. After losing 20 kilos in weight he ended his hunger strike and will continue his protest by legal ways.
Jock is very thankful for the support he received. But the issue of being able to continue his studies is not resolved, so it is still useful for friends and supporters to write letters to the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria.
The fight continues! Please keep writing letters of complaint to:
Ministry of Justice
Diana Kovacheva
No. 1, Slavanska
Street
Sofia 1040
Bulgaria
A week of solidarity action for Jock is being planned for April, more information will be available soon…
For other ways to support Jock:
Write letters of support to:
Jock Palfreeman
Sofia Central Prison
21 General Stoletov Boulevard
Sofia 1309
Bulgaria
Check out these websites for more information about his case:
http://www.freejock.com/
http://www.jockpalfreeman.com/
Sign this petition to the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice: To Approve Jock Palfreeman’s Prison Transfer to Australia
Website of Bulgarian Prisoners Association
Brighton ABC