Aug. 5: Seven years after remaining behind bars in Nepal for the alleged murder of an American tourist and having his not guilty plea rejected by Nepali courts, Charles Sobhraj has finally a silver lining with the UN saying he did not get a fair trial and asking the government of Nepal to free him as well as pay compensation.
The decision, poles apart from the judgment handed down last Friday by Nepal’s Supreme Court, comes from the Human Rights Committee, the wing of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva that monitors whether the countries signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are implementing it.In November 2008, five years after Sobhraj was arrested from a casino in Kathmandu, charged with the murder of Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 and found guilty, his French lawyer Ms Isabelle Coutant-Peyre filed a complaint with the UN, saying her client did not get a fair trial in Nepal.
During its 99th session in Geneva from July 12-30, the UN committee has ruled that Sobhraj was not allowed access to judicial remedies, the courts were biased and his basic rights were violated.
In accordance with the covenant, the state is under an obligation to provide (Sobhraj) with an effective remedy, including the speedy conclusion of the proceedings and compensation, the committee said on Wednesday.
The UN clean chit comes as a shot in the arm for Sobhraj, who became branded as the Bikini Killer in Nepal as prosecutors sought to dredge up allegations of crimes committed in Thailand, Afghanistan and beyond without providing any evidence to prove that he killed Bronzich in Kathmandu in 1975.
Most hearings were cancelled or postponed at the last minute without reasons being provided, it said.