▲ Charles Sobraz in 2011


Frenchman Charles Sobraz (78), who served 19 years in prison in Nepal for killing tourists and others in Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, returns to France.



After being released on the 23rd (local time), Sobraj immediately moved to Kathmandu Airport in Nepal, and arrived in Paris on the 24th via Doha, Qatar, according to AFP and the Associated Press.



Sobraz's lawyer told the Associated Press that the price for the plane ticket was obtained from a friend, and that the French embassy in Nepal provided the necessary documents for departure.



Sobraj was released from prison before boarding the plane and said he was "feeling very good" but insisted he was innocent and plans to sue the Nepalese government and others.



Sobraj told AFP that "every judge in Nepal, from the District Court to the High Court to the Supreme Court, was biased against me."



A Nepalese court sentenced Sobraj to life imprisonment in 2003 for killing an American tourist in 1975.



Life imprisonment in Nepal is 20 years.



The court also found Sobraz guilty of killing a Canadian who accompanied the tourist who died in 2014, and sent him to a higher-security prison.



Lawyers for Sobraz requested parole for health reasons, and the Supreme Court granted him on the grounds that he was a model prisoner of advanced age and suffering from heart problems.



Instead, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered Sobraj to leave Nepal within 15 days and barred him from entering Nepal for the next 10 years.



Sobraj served 21 years in prison for poisoning French tourists on a bus in New Delhi, India in 1976 before serving time in Nepal.



In 1986, he drugged prison guards and escaped.



Caught before long, Sobraj confided that he had escaped to extend his sentence, fearing he would later be extradited to Thailand, where he was wanted for another murder.



Released from India in 1997, Sobraj spent time in Paris, France, before traveling again to Nepal in 2003, where he was caught by the police after a reporter recognized Sobraj in a casino.



Sobraj is known to have been involved in more than 20 murders between 1972 and 1982 in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong.



Born in Vietnam, Sobraj's father is from India, his mother is from Vietnam, and as his mother later married a Frenchman, Sobraj became French.



He is the real-life model of 'The Serpent', a drama co-produced by the BBC and Netflix, and is also nicknamed the 'Bikini Killer' because he mainly targets young women.



(Photo = Yonhap News)