Australian Story: Oct 21

Tonight Australian Story profiles Jock Palfreeman, whose 12-year fight for freedom is at the centre of a diplomatic row between Australia & Bulgaria.

For the past decade, Australian Story producer Belinda Hawkins has been following the case of Jock Palfreeman, a young Australian man convicted in Bulgaria for a stabbing murder he says he didn’t commit.

He claims he was acting in self-defence when he was protecting a Gypsy who was being attacked; the court found him guilty of murder with hooliganism.

When Jock was released on parole recently having served 12 years in jail, he and his father, Simon Palfreeman, could have been forgiven for thinking their nightmare was over.

But a new crisis unfolded when Jock was caught up in a bitter struggle when politicians argued against his parole.

His case has escalated into a diplomatic stoush between Australia and the eastern European country.

Belinda Hawkins has recently returned from Bulgaria where she found Jock Palfreeman to be in a precarious situation.

Monday, October 21 at 8pm on ABC.