The French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, 78, known as “The Serpent”, deported by the authorities of Nepal after having spent nearly twenty years there in prison for the murder of two North American tourists, returned to France on Saturday morning.
Suspected of around twenty murders in the 1970s in Asia, the man who inspired a series broadcast on Netflix arrived at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris on a plane from Doha ( Qatar) and was immediately taken care of by the police, noted an AFP journalist who was traveling with him.
French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, aka ‘the Serpent’, to be freed
After “identity checks”Charles Sobhraj quietly left the airport, we learned from an airport source, failing the many journalists who were waiting for him.
Not being prosecuted in France, justice should not worry him. “There is nothing on him with us, he is not the subject of an arrest warrant. There is no sentence to be carried out here, that is why he is expelled and not extradited”, explained to “20 Minutes” a source familiar with the matter. “He could, on the other hand, be subject to administrative surveillance measures, that is to say, be discreetly watched by the police”says the news site.
At the Indian ExpressCharles Sobhraj said he hoped “to live many more years” and “to dedicate [sa vie] to [sa] daughter “. “I will probably occupy myself with my books… writing and business”he said again.
Legal proceedings
On the plane taking him to Doha, where he arrived in transit on Friday evening, the septuagenarian assured the AFP journalist that he was ” innocent “ crimes with which he is charged.
“I’m innocent in all these cases, okay? (…) Everything was built on false documents »he said in this exclusive interview with AFP. ” I have a lot of things to do. I have to sue many people including the State of Nepal”.
“The judge, without questioning any witness (…) and without allowing the accused to present the slightest argument, wrote down the verdict”he added. “The courts of Nepal, (…) all the judges, were biased”.
“It took more than nineteen years for him to regain his freedom and I am very happy and very shocked”commented to the press his French lawyer, Me Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, who came to pick him up at the airport. “He was unjustly sentenced on a file fabricated with documents falsified by the Nepalese police. It’s a scandal, he is presented as a serial killer, which is completely false “.
Surgery
Nepal’s Supreme Court, which ruled on his release on Wednesday, said Charles Sobhraj needed open-heart surgery and the move was in line with a Nepalese law allowing the release of bedridden prisoners who have already served three-quarters of their pain.
She ordered that he be deported within 15 days to France.
Framed by police wearing bulletproof vests, Charles Sobhraj, wearing a medical mask, had made no comment to the crowd of journalists who awaited him on his release from prison.
Before the announcement of his transfer, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs had for its part made it known that France would welcome him if a request for extradition was made to him. “notified”.
