You can free Michael Shields, Bulgarians tell Britain

Apr 26 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

Michael Shields _320

MICHAEL Shields’s campaign for freedom was bolstered last night after Bulgarian authorities said the UK Government does have the autho-rity to pardon him.

Justice Minister Jack Straw is exploring all avenues and taking legal advice to see if he can now intervene.

A letter from the Justice Minister in Sofia says Shields’s fate effectively lies in British hands.

In it, Miglena Tacheva says there will be no further proceedings against Shields in Bulgaria and that his release from prison could therefore be “executed” by UK authorities.

Mrs Tacheva sent the note in response to a BBC investigation.

Shields’s father yesterday pleaded with Mr Straw to released his son now the Bulgarians appear to have “wiped their hands of him”.

Shields was convicted of attempted murder in Bulgaria following the Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005.

The 21-year-old is serving a 10-year sentence in Garth Prison, Lancashire.

He has maintained his innocence throughout and passed a lie detector test.