In BFMTV’s “Le Titre à la une” podcast, attorney Charles Sobhraj talks about the return to France of his client, a 78-year-old French assassin who was released in late December after spending 22 years in prison in Nepal.

He is one of the most interesting characters in the news of recent years. France Charles Sobhraj, nicknamed “Snake”, has spent half of his life behind bars in a Nepali prison. On December 22, the country’s highest court ordered his release, allowing him to return to France two days later. Podcast produced by BFMTV “Title Title“dedicated an episode to him this Tuesday.

At 78 years old, Charles Sobhraj is “incredibly fit and full of projects”, says his lawyer Me Isabelle Coutant-Peyre. Since returning, he has been free to move as no proceedings have been filed against him in France.

“I take this opportunity to denounce the term ‘serial killer’. In India, he was never convicted of murder. He was convicted of attempted poisoning of students”, wanted to correct the lawyer.

He denounced the “false accusations”

His client, particularly famous after the release of a series produced by Netflix and inspired by his travels, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Nepal in 2004 for the murder of an American tourist. Ten years later, he was also found guilty of the murder of his partner.

He was also accused of trying to poison a group of French students traveling in India in 1976. They eventually neutralized him, then handed him over to the police.

About the series dedicated to him, Snake, Charles Sobhraj intends to file a complaint against Netflix to denounce the “false accusations”, added his lawyer. “The screenplay is done by a former consul, staunch opponent of Charles Sobhraj. He always pays the police and judges to fabricate cases against him. He keeps the series accountable by fabricating many false accusations”.

A book to come

It is this same consul that the criminal and his lawyers have accused of falsifying documents over the years in Nepal to exacerbate his case. “We started gathering elements to demonstrate police forgery”, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre says now.

“Everything was built on fake documents,” said Charles Sobhraj at his side on the plane that took him to Doha, where he transited before arriving in Paris. “I have a lot to do. I have to sue a lot of people, including the State of Nepal.”

If, for the time being, he does not wish to give any interviews, he intends to present his version of the facts in his memoir, which will be published on 9 February and co-written with Jean-Charles Deniau. A documentary by the same author should be released around the same time.

“Someone who cares about others”

His lawyers, with whom he has frequently exchanged views, describe him as a “calm and modest” man, contrary to the manipulator image some people have portrayed in recent times.

“He’s a very empathetic person, who cares for others while thinking of ways to get out of this trap, this trap. He doesn’t stop fighting from the start. He never tires of restarting the procedure” to ask for his release, showing advice.

The lawyer also questioned the French State, which he accused of abandoning Charles Sobhraj to the Nepalese authorities. However, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre reassured him: Charles Sobhraj’s escape was over. “Don’t imagine that he will return to his life as an adventurer, there is no time for that.”