Charles Sobhraj, responsible for the murder of several young people in Asia in the 1970s and who inspired the Netflix series “The Serpent”, was released from prison in Nepal this Friday, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).
Sobhraj, 78, was transferred to the immigration services before being deported to France, police said.
The decision to release Sobhraj, linked to more than 20 murders and detained since 2003 for the death of two American tourists, was made this Wednesday by the Supreme Court of Nepal.
The premiere was scheduled for Thursday, but due to logistical and legal problems it ended up being postponed for one more day.
The court ordered deportation to France within two weeks.
“Once taken to immigration, it will be decided what to do next. He has a heart condition, he wants to receive treatment at Gangalal Hospital. [em Katmandu]said Charles Sobhraj’s lawyer, Gopal Shiwakoti Chintan.
Sobhraj needs surgery and the release is in line with a Nepalese law that provides for the release of bedridden prisoners who have already served three-quarters of their sentence, the court said.
However, the French Foreign Ministry noted that it has not yet been officially notified of the expulsion of Charles Sobhraj, but that France will receive him if necessary.
Charles Sobhraj, a French national of Vietnamese and Indian descent, began traveling the world in the early 1970s, ending up in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Posing as a gem dealer, he befriended his victims, often Western backpackers, before drugging, robbing, and murdering them.
“He despised ‘backpackers,’ poor young drug addicts. He saw himself as a criminal hero,” Australian journalist Julie Clarke, who interviewed him, told AFP in 2021.
The name by which Charles Sobhraj is known, ‘The Serpent’, arose from his ability to assume different identities to escape justice.
Source: TSF
