By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 17 (IANS) After more than four years’ imprisonment in Nepal, the first country to convict him of murder in a criminal career spanning nearly two decades and several countries, yesteryear’s crime maestro Charles Sobhraj’s fate will finally be decided in November.
Nepal’s Supreme Court, that is hearing his appeal against life imprisonment for the murder of an American backpacker in 1975, said it would pronounce the final verdict on Nov 4.
The apex court decree would administer the coup de grace to a case that triggered worldwide attention and has all the elements of a Hollywood drama.
Sobhraj, the son of a Vietnamese mother and Indian father, became a celebrity of sorts in the 70s with tales of his systematic preying on western tourists.
While convicted of robbery and jailbreak, he was, however, never found guilty of murder till he arrived in Nepal, by a twist of fate, in 2003 and was arrested for a double crime allegedly committed in 1975.
According to Nepal police, Sobhraj came to Nepal in 1975, using the identity and passport of a Dutch tourist he murdered in Bangkok.
During his brief sojourn in Nepal, he allegedly killed American Connie Jo Bronzich, and the Canadian boyfriend she had acquired during her trip, Laurent Armand Carriere.
The badly burnt bodies of a male and female westerner were found in two different locations in Kathmandu valley, which police claimed were Sobhraj’s handiwork.
Though Sobhraj says he never came to Nepal before 2003, his assertions were rejected by a district court first and then a court of appeals, which upheld his 20-year jail term.
As the 63-year-old now concentrates on his last battle, his lawyers are contending that his unsavoury reputation could have caused a severe miscarriage of justice.
The state lawyers, who are trying to prove Sobhraj’s guilt, have consistently based their arguments on a case in India, in which they say Sobhraj was found guilty of murder.
In 1976, a French national, Luke Solomon, was found dead in a Delhi hotel and the court found Sobhraj guilty of homicide.
However, he fought the sentence successfully in Delhi High Court and the Indian Supreme Court, which agreed that Solomon was a drug addict who died due to an overdose.
The Nepali state lawyers, however, have been tabling only the original Delhi court verdict while trying to nail Sobhraj, ignoring the acquittal orders.
But now, the resourceful French national has been able to dig out the Delhi High Court’s acquittal order given in 1980 and hopes it will support his plea of innocence.
Sobhraj’s lawyers also say that the Nepal district court, that first convicted him, made a shocking error.
The judge, while referring to old letters written by Sobhraj to his mistress when they both were in Indian prisons in the 70s, reportedly made a huge error.
In the letter – published in the book “The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj” – Sobhraj had mentioned that his partner in crime, Marie Leclerc, never mentioned her “illegal” activities to her family.
However, instead of “illegal”, the judge read “Nepal” and reportedly wrote it in his observations. Subsequently, all the state lawyers have been arguing that Sobhraj’s letter says his partner never told her family about the “Nepal” activities, which proved he had come to Nepal in the 70s.
Sobhraj claims he was not given a fair trial in Nepal, where the courts did not allow cross-examination of potential witnesses and sentenced him on the basis of “biased” media reports.