French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who committed multiple murders across Asia in the 1970s and inspired the Netflix series The Serpent, will be released from prison in the next few hours and could be extradited to France tonight. This was announced by the Nepalese authorities and his lawyer. 78-year-old Sobhraj, who has been jailed since 2003 for the murder of two American tourists, will be released on health grounds, the Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled. The court also ordered his transfer to France within 15 days. “As soon as he takes him to immigration, it will be decided what will happen. He has a heart problem and wants to be treated at Gangalal Hospital,” his lawyer Gopal Shiwakoti Chintan said. The serial killer will require open-heart surgery and his release is in line with a Nepalese law that allows the release of bedridden prisoners who have already served three-quarters of their sentence. A French citizen of Vietnamese and Indian descent, Charles Sobhraj began traveling the world in the early 1970s and found himself in the Thai capital of Bangkok. Posing as a gem dealer, he befriended his victims, often western “backpackers” following in the footsteps of 1970s hippies, before drugging, robbing and killing them.
“The Nepalese government wants to send him back as soon as possible. Sobhraj wants him too. So I arranged for him to fly on Qatar Airways at 6pm. The French embassy is bringing him travel documents,” his lawyer told reporters
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