Bulgaria's Prosecution Denies Palfreeman Transfer to Australia

The Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office has officially denied a request by its Australian counterpart to transfer to his home country a young Australian national sentenced to 20 years in jail for murder.

Jock Palfreeman was sentenced for the December 2007 stabbing murder of a young Bulgarian man and the attempted murder of his friend in a street fight in Sofia.

He was 24 then. His sentence was confirmed by a Bulgarian last instance court in July 2011.

In its decision, the Bulgarian prosecution states that according to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, transfer is a legal option among others.

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has decided that the small time spent by Palfreeman in jail, currenly 5 years and 10 month, is not enough to fulfill the goals of his punishment.

The prosecution also adds that the Australian has committed a number of grave delinquencies while serving his sentence.