- Title: Australian man sentenced to four years for links to extremists
- Date: 5th June 2017
- Summary: SOFIA, BULGARIA (JUNE 5, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE TO SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT SIGN READING (Bulgarian): "SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT" JOURNALISTS INSIDE COURT DEFENDANT JOHN ZAKHARIEV BEING ESCORTED INTO COURT ROOM VARIOUS ZAKHARIEV SITTING, TALKING TO HIS LAWYER ZAKHARIEV'S MOTHER SITTING IN COURT ROOM PEOPLE ATTENDING TRIAL PROSECUTOR CASE FILE POLICE OFFICER COURT CORRIDORS BEFORE VERDICT JUDGE STANDING UP TO ANNOUNCE VERDICT (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) JUDGE, BILYANA VRANCHEVA, SAYING: "This court states the defendant is guilty." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENDANT, JOHN ZAKHARIEV, SAYING: "I would like to say that I am 100 percent innocent from the charges. Nothing has been proven in the course of seven months of the court proceedings. They have not proven one time that I intended to return to Syria, they have provided no evidence I went shooting with the intention to go back to Syria, nor have they provided any evidence to show any links or sympathies with ISIS or DAESH. And like I said, nothing more could be expected from a country which still runs show trials and which denied me to even have a defence in court." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENDANT, JOHN ZAKHARIEV, SAYING: "I will be discussing with my lawyer perhaps some appeals and we'll see if the prosecutor wants to appeal. I actually had a conversation with my lawyer a few days ago about this, but I personally think it would be a waste of time. I mean, what is the point of going through another show court and enduring another show trial?" JOURNALIST ASKING: "How hard has it been in prison for you?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENDANT, JOHN ZAKHARIEV, SAYING: "That place is the heart of darkness, nobody goes into that place and stays longer than a year without undergoing some form of severe psychological trauma. I believe Sofia central was never designed to rehabilitate people, it was designed to break people down completely." JOURNALIST ASKING: "Are you a terrorist, John?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENDANT, JOHN ZAKHARIEV, SAYING: "Absolutely not, and there has been no proof provided in seven months of court proceedings." POLICE OFFICER CLOSING COURT ROOM DOOR COURT ROOM DOOR
- Embargoed: 19th June 2017 16:16
- Keywords: extremism Australian citizen court Bulgaria
- Location: SOFIA, BULGARIA
- City: SOFIA, BULGARIA
- Country: Bulgaria
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0016K02TZB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Sofia's Special Criminal Court on Monday (June 5) sentenced an Australian man accused of having links to extremists to four years of jail - half the maximum eight-year term he had feared.
The court also ordered him to pay a fine amounting to $7,800.
His seven-month trial, held without a jury, hinged on trips he made to shooting ranges in Bulgaria where the prosecution said he had followed instructions to learn how to shoot a Kalashnikov with the purposes of using one in an attack.
The 21-year-old grew up in Sydney and travelled to Syria after graduating from his eastern suburbs private school.
He was arrested in September last year and has since been held in custody in the foreigner's wing of the country's maximum security prison pending trial.
Zahariev defended his innocence after the verdict was read and denied all accusations arguing that none of them had been proven during trial. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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