Kathmandu, Nov 06: Charles Sobhraj, the notorious killer nicknamed "the serpent" for his escapes from the law, appealed today for release from jail in Nepal where he is charged with killing two tourists in 1975. The Vietnamese-born French national filed a petition against his October 20 remand by the Kathmandu district court, arguing his detention violated citizens' rights granted by Nepalese law, his lawyer said.

"I have the right to fight this case from outside jail," lawyer Sanjiv Ghimere quoted his petition as saying. The court will likely consider Sobhraj's petition for release within two weeks, Ghimere said.

Sobhraj, who spent 21 years in Indian jails for murder, was arrested on september 19 gambling in the casino of a five-star hotel.

He has been lodged in the Kathmandu Central Jail, where he is reported to enjoy restaurant food and pillows at a locale better known for cramped living quarters and rodents. He faces life imprisonment if convicted for the double murder of American tourist Connie Bronizch and young Canadian hiker Laurent Armand Carrierre in 1975.

Prosecutors filed a case against him in 1976 but say Sobhraj had escaped the country using a false passport.

Sobhraj denies ever visiting Nepal before arriving here September 01 and says he came to film a documentary on the kingdom's handicrafts.

Bureau Report