ID :
17346
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 11:08
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http://m.oananews.org//node/17346
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Sobhraj case: Nepal SC defers hearing indefinitely
Shirish B Pradhan
Kathmandu, Aug 28 (PTI) Notorious international criminal Charles Sobhraj, who has filed an appeal against his conviction in a murder case, Thursday failed to get reprieve from the Nepalese Supreme Court, which indefinitely postponed the hearing in his case.
The apex court bench comprising justices Min Bahadur
Rayamajhi and Kalyan Shrestha postponed the hearing in
Sobhraj's appeal to take up a priority case.
The date for the next hearing in his case has not yet
been set, Supreme court sources said.
Sobhraj's fiancee Nihita Bishwas and lawyer Shakuntala
Thapa were present in the apex court when the hearing was
postponed, they said.
The 'Bikini Killer', who was arrested in 2003 from
Kathmandu's Royale Casino, was convicted by the Kathmandu
District Court in 2004 for the murder of American backpacker
Connie Jo Bronjich in 1975. The Patan Appellate Court had
rejected his appeal in the case, following which he moved the
Supreme Court.
Sobhraj's lawyers claimed that there was no concrete
evidence against him in the murder case and the court verdict
was based on fake document produced by the police and biased
newspaper reporting.
Lawyer Shakuntala, also Nihita's mother, meanwhile,
claimed that new evidence has been added by police against
Sobhraj to foil his bid for freedom.
She accused a former Australian diplomat of using his
Nepali agent to produce fake documents against Sobhraj.
Sobhraj's business rivalry with the Australian national
is leading to more and more "fictitious" documents against
him, she alleged.
If the decision had been made on the basis of concrete
evidence, Sobhraj would have been released long time back, the
lawyer claimed. There is no ground to prove his involvement in
the three-decade-old murder case, she said.
She also alleged that Sobhraj had been handcuffed in the
jail to exert psychological pressure on him and that he and
Nihita had been threatened several times.
Nihita has been changing residences almost everyday due
to the threats, Shakuntla claimed. PTT SBP
Kathmandu, Aug 28 (PTI) Notorious international criminal Charles Sobhraj, who has filed an appeal against his conviction in a murder case, Thursday failed to get reprieve from the Nepalese Supreme Court, which indefinitely postponed the hearing in his case.
The apex court bench comprising justices Min Bahadur
Rayamajhi and Kalyan Shrestha postponed the hearing in
Sobhraj's appeal to take up a priority case.
The date for the next hearing in his case has not yet
been set, Supreme court sources said.
Sobhraj's fiancee Nihita Bishwas and lawyer Shakuntala
Thapa were present in the apex court when the hearing was
postponed, they said.
The 'Bikini Killer', who was arrested in 2003 from
Kathmandu's Royale Casino, was convicted by the Kathmandu
District Court in 2004 for the murder of American backpacker
Connie Jo Bronjich in 1975. The Patan Appellate Court had
rejected his appeal in the case, following which he moved the
Supreme Court.
Sobhraj's lawyers claimed that there was no concrete
evidence against him in the murder case and the court verdict
was based on fake document produced by the police and biased
newspaper reporting.
Lawyer Shakuntala, also Nihita's mother, meanwhile,
claimed that new evidence has been added by police against
Sobhraj to foil his bid for freedom.
She accused a former Australian diplomat of using his
Nepali agent to produce fake documents against Sobhraj.
Sobhraj's business rivalry with the Australian national
is leading to more and more "fictitious" documents against
him, she alleged.
If the decision had been made on the basis of concrete
evidence, Sobhraj would have been released long time back, the
lawyer claimed. There is no ground to prove his involvement in
the three-decade-old murder case, she said.
She also alleged that Sobhraj had been handcuffed in the
jail to exert psychological pressure on him and that he and
Nihita had been threatened several times.
Nihita has been changing residences almost everyday due
to the threats, Shakuntla claimed. PTT SBP
