2024-07-30 11:15:43
Charismatic, wearing his aura of a down-to-earth person, says about the Australian transferred to Stara Zagorsk prison from the British “Belmarsh” Bulgarian
For a long time, the world was excited about the 14-year saga with the justice of the USA and Sweden of the Australian Julian Assange. The co-founder of classified information bank Wikileaks spent 6 years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in an attempt to hide, and in 2019 he was arrested and detained in the maximum security prison on Belmarsh Island.
He stayed there for almost 5 years, all the while fighting against the possibility of being extradited to the USA.
Overseas was accused of violating the Espionage Act after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified US documents in 2010. This event was set for
the largest leak of classified documents in US history
In the end, Assange made a deal with the US judicial authorities and in June of this year. released from prison in London. After some legal wrangling, it turned out that he would no longer be behind bars and left for his homeland as a free man. His time at Belmarsh was deducted.
To his supporters, Assange is a freedom fighter. For opponents – fame seeker. His biographers define him as an Internet activist, programmer, journalist. They write about him as a controversial figure who showed the world the power of information.
But what does a Bulgarian from Haskovo think about him?
Unexpectedly, the Australian and the Bulgarian meet in the “Belmarsh” prison, and they both become friends.
In 2017, Emil Hristov from Haskovo, known as Emo Fashion, got there. In March 2018, he was sentenced by a London court to life imprisonment for the murder of his fellow citizen Dimitar Petrov, nicknamed the Frog.
At the time, Hristov was about 40 years old, and the victim was 29 years old. The two were roommates in London, but knew each other from their hometown, where they were known to the police because of beatings, theft and drugs.
The boys quarreled on August 20, 2017. According to the Haskovo.Net site, the quarrel was over money and amphetamines. Both of them took out knives – after killing the Toad, there were cuts on Emil’s body as well. The site quoted the English police as saying
the murdered man was stabbed 18 times, 4 of them
penetrations are through the heart
Arrested a few hours later, Fashionna confessed to the murder, but insisted that Dimitar attacked him first and it was in self-defense.
In England, the courts do not delay sentences for murder, and after an investigation and a two-month trial, Emil Hristov was convicted. His life sentence is eligible for commutation, but after the convict has served at least 21 years of his sentence, according to the court’s decision.
The issue of Feshana’s future freedom will be decided on Bulgarian territory, because he was transferred to serve his sentence in the Stara Zagorje prison.
This prison is the place where, for years, prisoners have been publishing the first prison newspaper in our country with their own resources and materials. Today it is called “Nadezhda”, its first issue is from 1995. This newspaper is the successor of “Prelom” newspaper, which began to be published in Stara Zagora as early as 1960.
Just in “Hope” in its February 2021 issue, Emil talks about his acquaintance with Assange and shares his impressions of him. No matter how much the text is edited, it appears that the haskovlia is an intelligent person. It is noteworthy that he defines the murder as a “serious incident”.
Hristov is the first guest of the newly opened section of the newspaper “Open Doors”. Here is what he writes on page 3:
Dear readers, I am grateful to have the opportunity to be the debut guest of the new section of the newspaper “Nadezhda” – “Open Doors”.
My story, like most of you, is long, winding and multi-faceted. In my story, I will describe to you only a part of what I experienced during my stay in Belmarsh prison. I sincerely hope that this reading will be interesting and useful for you. And so…
It all started in August 2017, when after a serious accident I ended up in Belmarsh prison, which is the highest security prison in Europe. I was under observation for the first 3 months.
I was worked with by social workers, staff and immigration services. So
on the basis of behavior I was transferred to another block of the prison
The administration gave me the opportunity to work in the kitchen, and then I started working in the health center. At the same time, I covered the third level of English.
When I wasn’t working, I was in solitary confinement, and I can say that at that moment only reading saved my life and my psyche.
The last 3 months before I was repatriated to Bulgaria, I was a translator in the prison library.
There, in 2019, I met one of the most famous names in recent years – Julian Assange. Of medium height, with slightly long graying hair, he is of Australian descent,
named in 2011 as one of the most influential people in the world by the Times newspaper
– journalist, programmer, founder of the Internet platform “Wikileaks”. Julian Assange has been hiding for a long time, seeking refuge in the embassies of a number of countries, and subsequently arrested for distributing classified information.
Extremely charismatic, wearing his halo even in prison, which, however, does not prevent him from being a normal, down-to-earth person. Things that made me think from our first meeting that no one is immune to going to jail.
His erudition and intellect, his friendly attitude towards me and views on the world in general allowed me to quote Nelson Mandela’s words to him every time we met:
One must learn to see beyond the concrete and the iron that encircles him in prison
Words he accepted with a smile and approval, sharing with me that life is an adventure where patience is the key to all trials.
Meetings that I will always remember, gave me strength and courage far from Bulgaria in the strictest European prison.
Dear readers, here, already in my homeland, I hope to continue our meetings in the “Hope” newspaper. I wish everyone a successful and fruitful year and remember – prison takes but at the same time gives a lot – as long as each of us gets our priorities right. May you be warmed by the thought that after every sunset comes a sunrise.
This was written by Emil Hristov 3 and a half years ago. As a journalist, I asked to meet him in person to retell his story with Assange.
However, the prison administration explained that a meeting at this stage was impossible, as Emil had fallen into a mental state that did not allow him to talk adequately with the “24 Hours” reporter.
Father Yordan Karageorgiev, who has been serving in the prison church for years and knows almost everyone behind bars, shared that Emil had recently come very rarely to church services.
“He invented his own world and closed himself in it, he is looking for his own way to survive,” comments the priest.