charles sobhraj interview 1997 charles sobhraj interview 1997

Sobhraj was a nuisance for both the Nepalese and French, and neither wanted to afford him the opportunity for publicity. (Reuters/File) In an interview to News18, legendary police officer Madhukar Zende shares how he arrested serial killer Charles Sobhraj in a Goa restaurant in 1986. Jenna Coleman, as Marie-Andre Leclerc, with Rahim in The Serpent. . \r\rAfter spending 21 years in an Indian jail, Charles Sobhraj, known as \"The Serpent\", has been allowed into France.\r\rSobhraj who was born to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother claims French citizenship.\r\rBut he was immediately taken into custody on his arrival in Paris and his French lawyer has accused the French government of incompetence over the handling of his case.\r\rIt was a long wait for those waiting to see Charles Sobhraj walk out of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Tuesday.\r\rAlthough Sobhraj is now a free man, he was taken into custody by the French authorities after arriving on an overnight flight from New Delhi.\r\rAmong those waiting were his French lawyer Jacques Verges, known for defending other notorious figures, such as the late Klaus Barbie, the infamous Nazi Gestapo chief and Carlos \"The Jackal\".\r\rSuspected of murder by Indian and Thai authorities, but never convicted, Sobhraj is believed to have drugged and killed at least 14 young tourists in those two countries in the 1970s.\r\rThe famous criminal has spent 21 years in prison on charges of robbery. This urge to run away can perhaps be traced back to his disrupted childhood. The 'Karma' question He was spotted in a casino playing baccarat by journalist. But exactly why he then killed these harmless young travellers remains a mystery. "I kept trying to find out what he was doing, but he wouldn't say. He was indeed released in. Sobhraj was represented by the infamous lawyer Jacques Vergs, nicknamed the devils advocate because his roster of clients included the Nazi Klaus Barbie, Slobodan Milosevic and the renowned international terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Then I didnt hear of him for six years, until I read that he had been arrested in Kathmandu for the murders of a Canadian called Laurent Carrire and an American Connie Jo Bronzich, who had been killed in December 1975. There seems little doubt that had the same quality of evidence produced in the Kathmandu court been put to a judge and jury in Britain, the case would have been dismissed. He thought that, secretly, he harboured a wish to return to prison, even if once there he would spend all his time trying to get out. He told the police that he had come to make a documentary about Nepali handicrafts. I still believed if at that time the government had accepted the suggestion of six months (that Masood would be released in six months), most probably, I could have persuaded Harkat ul Ansar to accept it. If Sobhraj's greatest criminal weakness was his propensity to be caught, it was offset by an impressive strength: his ability to escape. Despite my pressing, he refused to speak about the murders, only allowing that there were things in his past that he regretted but they were now behind him and he wanted to start life anew. A week after I published a damning profile, Sobhraj called me at the Observer office. This time they are holding him, in the end they will be forced to release him and they are going to lose face for the second time. He has made a continual fuss about his conviction, appealing to everyone from the UN downwards, and is demanding 7m (5.8) compensation for unlawful imprisonment. When he had been in prison in India, women threw themselves at him, and he dropped each one as the next showed her face. Between 2000 and 2003, I made several trips to Pakistan. He loved nothing better than talking about his legal appeals. "He's an old friend of mine," she said, "and he admitted it was all a lie. Referencing the title card, Anthony wrote, "The ABC team were not the only ones back then to speak to Sobhraj, who was suspected of committing at least 12 murders. But he managed to avoid conviction for either of the killings, and instead received a 12-year sentence for the attempted robbery of the students. He called a friend, an ageing French-Vietnamese character whom he treated as a manservant-cum-bodyguard. Sobhraj is escorted by armed policemen to court in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2003. Every cent. He yearns for life outside, but once there he soon finds himself back behind bars. The authorities were mystified by the incorrigible recidivist who was in and out of reform school and prison during his teens. A martial-arts fanatic, he seemed to be physically, psychologically and philosophically armed with everything required to dominate others. "Ask Nietzsche," he replied with a grin. In early 2013 I entered Kathmandu prison, the only journalist to get access to him after the attempted murder. In The Serpent he is accurately portrayed as a dogged if novice investigator. In Charles and I, he gave an excellent performance. In stressful situations he remains calm and plausible, regardless of what lies he tells. Now 76 years old, he is reportedly in poor health while serving a life sentence in Nepal. Biswas had already traded on her notoriety to appear on Bigg Boss, Indias equivalent of Celebrity Big Brother. However she remains a staunch advocate of his cause and the attention she has garnered, due to her husband, hasn't been all bad. All of which meant that in 1997 he returned to Paris, where I went to interview him for the Observer. '", Dhondy turned down the offer, but became convinced that Sobhraj was involved in the illegal arms trade. After politely sidestepping his offer, I got on to the question I'd been waiting a long time to ask: whatever made him come back to Nepal? He killed them by first drugging their drinks and then stabbing or choking them. "He finds himself not famous, whereas in prison he's a somebody. He called me at the Observer after my piece appeared and said he was coming to London. The only topic that aroused his sense of injustice was his imprisonment, which he took to be one of the great judicial miscarriages of modern times. The two men soon fell out. Sobhraj was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for various crimes from burglary to armed robbery, but he would always be released or manage to escape, such as when he pretended to be ill,. He wore a playful but challenging smile as I politely declined his offer. "I am a busy man with my own film production company in Paris. "It's an incredible story. 3 days ago. The Casino Royale at Hotel Yak & Yeti in central Kathmandu does not entirely live up to its James Bond billing. In its latest report, Transparency International has classified Nepal as the third most corrupt country after Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The said news quoted the Nepal Police as declaring that they had no case or file against me. And Sobhraj was not unaware of his magnetic appeal. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. I straightaway refused, saying Masood would never agree, and again, I told them that I was convinced that after 11 days, they would start executing some passengers. After all, I cannot now face trial . He is not a psycho.". It is a darkly stylish thriller about the real-life killer Charles Sobhraj's spree of attacks along the Hippie Trail in the 1970s. His story is one of deception and mass murder. I am going straight back to France to my family. Then he and Compagnon were imprisoned in Afghanistan. For all the moral grandeur of those words, at 75 he has spent more than half his life in prison. A couple of months later, Al Faran went silent and until today, the whereabouts of those remaining foreign hostages remain unknown. What was the nature of your assignment for them? What was going on? It's about a serial killer who is arrested in Nepal for a couple of murders that took place years before. Sobhraj turns 70 in April, by which time he will already have served half his sentence, so in theory he will be free once more. "Johnson turned up on his bicycle," recalled Dhondy. But it was on his supposed role in trying to secure the release of the hijacked passengers of IC-814 that Sobhraj was most forthcoming. He used to be represented by Jacques Vergs, the "devil's advocate", who has defended every tyrant and war criminal from Klaus Barbie to Slobodan Milosevic. In one of the rooms hed abandoned, just before the police had arrived, he had left a copy of Nietzsches Beyond Good and Evil. With his wide cheekbones; shapely thick lips; piercing eyes; lithe, muscular build; confident manner and dangerous reputation, he presented an irresistible challenge to many female suitors. "You must talk to him.". Knippenbergs direct manner is well captured by Billy Howle, but while Tahar Rahims depiction of Sobhraj gets his enigmatic detachment and quiet menace, it doesnt catch what, in a way, are his more troubling qualities: wit and charm and a kind of playful sense of self-mythologising. All the same, he said he continued to see Compagnon while he was with his wife, who appears to have vanished from the scene. Linked with at least ten sadistic murders, Charles Sobhraj is a narcissistic pedlar of fantasies who has spent his life on the run or in prison across Southeast Asia, France and the subcontinent. Like some bizarre real-life combination of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley and Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter, he was handsome, charming and utterly without scruple. Sobhraj has always been provocative in his choice of lawyers. Charles Sobhraj is bundled into a police van in Delhi in 1997, shortly after his release from jail. If Sobhraj has a deep craving for liberty, he also appears to possess an unhealthy appetite for incarceration, having spent more than 35 years in prison. Over the course of a couple of mind-boggling hours he recounted a fantastical plot in which he said he had been working for the CIA in a ruse to trap Taliban guerrillas buying arms from the Chinese triads. I would see, she said, casually. The idea that the Americans would make such provisions for a serial killer seems far-fetched, to say the least, although it's fair to say that in the past they have done business with people who are even more disreputable than Sobhraj. Like Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley, he assumed different identities, using stolen passports and creating a trail of havoc wherever he went. I want to meet my three (friends who I consider) sisters in Pune. After court in New York orders seizure, Met says will transfer 15 antique Indian Express-ICIJ Investigation: Govt welcomes Met offer to return ant LSG vs RCB Live Score, IPL 2023: Rain stopped the play, RCB 93/4 with Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik at the crease, Mumbai News Live Updates: MVA's third Vajramuth rally commences; only few days left for Shinde-Fadnavis govt, says Aaditya Thackeray, GSEB 12th Science, GUJCET Result 2023 Live Updates: Results to be declared by GSEB at 9 am on May 2, JEE Advanced registration, NEET UG 2023 Live: CUET application partially re-opened. But like so many women who were to follow, she had fallen under his spell. The Taliban needed to sell heroin to buy arms and Sobhraj had contacts with the Triads, who were keen to buy heroin, so he offered to represent the Taliban in a meeting in Nepal. He slept with many of them, including his lawyer, Sneh Senger, and became engaged to at least two others. On the eve of the interview, the Nepali authorities changed their minds, and we returned home empty-handed. Although they are no longer in contact, Sobhraj appears to have forgiven Dhondy, after the author was quoted as saying the killer's conviction in Nepal was unsound. He told me that he's been thinking of me recently because he's looking for someone to ghost his autobiography. Here's What We Know, Jada Pinkett Smith Says "Red Table Talk" Is Looking For a "New Home" After Cancellation, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau "Absolutely" Wants to Work With "GOT" Costar Gwendoline Christie Again, "Bel-Air"'s Creator, Showrunner Break Down the Bombshell Moments in Season 2's Emotional Finale, Jennifer Garner and Angourie Rice Search For Clues in Exclusive Clip From "The Last Thing He Told Me", "Jury Duty"'s Judge Alan Barinholtz Is a "Nepo Dad": Meet His Famous Sons, Anneliese van der Pol Says "That's So Raven"'s Initial Casting Was "Racism on a Low Level", drugging and trying to rob a group of French engineering students in India, wasn't convicted for any murders prior to 1997, statute of limitations on his arrest was up, paid $5 million for his life story and reportedly gave interviews for $6,000 each, detailed his own experience talking with Sobhraj, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 'He finds himself not famous, whereas in prison he's a somebody' "I'm almost 70," he said. Its a sensitive matter. They are the only things in his misspent life that hes ever been able to hold on to. Other times his gambling debts would lead him to take excessive risks. I told him what I knew, that the Russians said that they had an isotope that could act as a trigger for nuclear bombs "It was a hotel on the M20 junction," Dhondy recalled. When I met him in Paris he boasted of his exploits in Tihar prison in New Delhi. Two years ago Ansari was shot, but not fatally injured, by a would-be assassin who was said to be visiting Sobhraj in the prison. With an obedient Indian accomplice called Ajay Chowdhury, he murdered them in a variety of fashions, including in one case setting fire to a young Dutch couple while they were still alive. 2 days ago, by Lindsay Kimble The couple married when Sobhraj was released and embarked on an epic crime spree across Europe and Asia, before settling in Mumbai with a newborn child and a profitable trade in stolen cars. Charles Sobhraj, pictured in 1997, the year he was released after 21 years in a New Delhi jail. You met Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar while in Tihar Jail. In any case, it requires no great intellect to kill someone. "I told him what I knew, that the Russians said that they had an isotope that could act as a trigger for nuclear bombs. He then told me about being approached by an agent for Saddam Hussein's regime, before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, to buy red mercury, a semi-mythical substance that was said, without credible attribution, to be used in the creation of nuclear weapons. He promised her that he was a reformed character and they got engaged, only for him to go back to prison for car theft. A couple of days after my report to Jaswant Singh, they called me and said they were sitting with Masood and asked me to talk to him and try to convince him to order his people to release the passengers. While you might not be able to track down the interview footage, Sobhraj definitely became a media star following his release, reportedly talking to reporters for hefty sums after settling down in Paris. Are you in contact with anyone else in Pakistan? So not Nepali handicrafts, after all. For the poor Nepali inmates, its a question of survival life or death. In The Guardian, Observer reporter Andrew Anthony detailed his own experience talking with Sobhraj. Leclerc quit her. Sobhraj denied all knowledge of the plot, but the prison authorities claimed that the gunman had visited him 21 times in the preceding months. "Think about the money," he said. "But it was too hot. Photograph: Krishnan Guruswamy/AP The Observer TV crime drama Speaking with the Serpent: my. In 2003, Sobhraj was arrested once more in Nepal, then later convicted for the 1975 murders of American Connie Jo Bronzich and Canadian Laurent Carrire. ", I asked him in Paris about the power he held over those who came under his influence. 2 days ago, by Joely Chilcott She was a little-travelled medical secretary, quiet and emotionally needy. (8 Apr 1997) French/Nat Charles Sobhraj, the man suspected of killing 14 young tourists throughout Asia arrived in Paris on Tuesday. At first it led to the M25, where Dhondy was directed one morning by Sobhraj. His motto was: 'When you feel the heat, go to the kitchen,' and he certainly thrived in stressful situations. I wanted to know what he thought about his past deeds. "I would see," she said, unflustered. I dont want to say more about that its a private matter. His is a dark and tragic story that lies between what he might have been and what he became, said Neville. He maintains that he was quite open with the Nepalese authorities, applying for a visa in France under his own name, assured that the charges were out of date. In autumn 2011, she appeared as a contestant on Bigg Boss, India's equivalent of, Feisty and articulate, she ran through all the legal flaws in the prosecution's case. This is an interview of Charles being sarcastic about his murdersThis interview was banned nationally and isn't allowed to be aired, i went through alot of t. But he hated his adoptive nation. We went around and around the subject, and it became clear that he was more interested in portraying himself as a victim: of western imperialism, a dysfunctional childhood, racism and institutionalisation. He twice tried to return to Vietnam by stowing away on a ship - once he got as far as Djibouti before being discovered and sent back to France. He actually received time for drugging and trying to rob a group of French engineering students in India but wasn't convicted for any murders prior to 1997. Mr Jaswant Singh was in direct contact with me. I left Paris bemused and wondering what hed do next. Viewed from a political perspective, it was a story of the times, a symbolic tale of colonial backlash, an uprooted war child fighting against an oppressive and uncaring system. His mother then married an occupying French soldier who, suffering from PTSD, returned to France with his young family. I didnt commit any offence in Nepal so I didnt apprehend any problems. Sobhraj took Johnson's advice and went to the Telegraph, but while he was still in talks with that paper, he went off to Nepal. After a special plea to the prison minister, two meetings with the prison governor, three body searches and an armed escort, I entered the inner sanctum of the prison, which is run by the prisoners. He didn't show Dhondy the emails but asked him to help him sell the story. In Kathmandu the prisoners run their side of the prison, where our interview took place, and the guards remain outside. "I'm looking for a literary agent," he told me. The only certainty is that the Serpent will not slip away to a quiet retirement in the French countryside. ", Nevertheless a few years ago, while he was working in India, Dhondy received a phone call from Sobhraj in Kathmandu Central Jail. Sobhraj met his current Nepalese lawyer, Shakuntala Thapa, through her daughter, 24-year-old Nihita Biswas, who acted as his translator during one of the Frenchman's many appeals. Neville, who is now dead, told me from Australia that his wife was anxious that Sobhraj was at large. The filmmaker got a researcher- to look into it and they sent the findings to Sobhraj. told The Indian Express newspaper in an interview published . . He was by turns funny, enigmatic, absurd and engaging. '", Sobhraj wanted Dhondy to lease the shop as a British citizen and took him up to his hotel to show him a Russian manual full of armaments. "He didn't bet high stakes and he didn't talk to anyone," the manager Ramesh Babu Shreastha told me. The calls from Kathmandu were mostly when he was taken out of jail for a court hearing or a visit to the hospital. The door opened and he beckoned me in. Released in 1997, Sobhraj lived in Paris, giving paid interviews to journalists, but went back to Nepal in 2003. Compagnon was replaced by a French-Canadian, Marie-Andre Leclerc. He had just been released from jail in India, where he had spent 20 years on various charges (but not for any of the murders for which he was alleged to be responsible). There will be film rights too.". His father was a successful Indian tailor and his mother was his father's mistress, a local Vietnamese woman. You even visited a casino. Tell us about your family You have a daughter in Paris. Charles Sobhraj is bundled into a police van in Delhi in 1997, shortly after his release from jail. He spent most of his adolescence in Paris in and out of youth offender facilities and then their adult version. In those days visitors entered and left countries like Thailand, Hong Kong and Nepal with minimum official processing. ", The pair stayed in touch and in 2003, Sobhraj called Dhondy, who has a natural-sciences degree from Cambridge, to ask about red mercury. Sobhraj did not settle in his new home and twice stowed away on ships heading to Africa. (Credit: Charles Sobhraj), Charles Sobhraj exclusive interview: I am going straight back to France to my family I hope to live for many years to come, Full list: UNDEF grants to civil society organisations with affiliation to OSF, In New Delhi, George Soros is old, dangerous and on a watchlist at UN, he isnt a problem, Indian Express-ICIJ Investigation: Govt welcomes Met offer to return antiques, works on next steps, Recalling the life and crimes of Bikini killer Charles Sobhraj, A brash fellow: retired cop who arrested Sobhraj recalls how he nabbed him at a Goa restaurant. He finds himself not famous, whereas in prison hes a somebody.. . He looked a curiously slight figure, his skin remarkably smooth, even youthful, given that hed spent the past two decades in an Indian jail. They fell in love. My programme was to be in Kathmandu for only a few days for that meeting, and leave. "Mention David Beckham in England, everybody knows. Charles Sobhraj exclusive interview: 'I am going straight back to France to my family I hope to live for many years to come' With the master of guile set to take his flight to freedom at age 78, the world may finally get to hear from the man himself - the chronicles, claims and conspiracy theories that make up Charles Sobhraj. Four days after the Himalayan Times ran its story, deputy superintendent Ganesh arrested Sobhraj at the Casino Royale. But regardless of how he was defined, I wanted to know what he thought about his past deeds. But first he was imprisoned in Greece he escaped by swapping identities with his younger brother. It had been 15 years since I'd last heard from Sobhraj, quite possibly the most disarming serial killer in criminal history, but his voice was instantly recognisable. Herman Knippenberg now lives in New Zealand, where he keeps a large archive on Sobhrajs crimes in his home. Often with the former nurse Leclercs help, he drugged them, led them to believe they had contracted a tropical bug, and prevented them from leaving his apartments on the top floor of Kanit House in Bangkok. I have started a second manuscript which Ill complete after about six months. The suggestion was that Sobhraj was part of another murder plot. How do you want to spend the next few years of your life? The Best True Crime Shows to Watch The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam at the Cecil