<p>The independence and impartiality of Nepal's criminal justice system cannot be questioned, the government told the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which had asked the authorities to reply within 180 days to Sobhraj's accusations of "biased" judgment.<br /><br />The government wrote to the UNHRC last week informing it that the Supreme Court's verdict and the handling of the case by police were in line with the laws of the land, the Kantipur online said today.<br /><br />"We have explained to the HRC that Sobhraj is guilty and that he was sentenced fairly," a source at the Prime Minister’s Office was quoted as saying in the report.<br /><br />Nicknamed the "Bikini killer" and "Serpent", he has been accused of luring young women and killing many of them. Sobhraj, who was earlier held in New Delhi's Tihar prison, was deported to France in 1997.<br /><br />On July 30, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence of the 'bikini killer' by lower court for killing US backpackerConnie Jo Bronzich in 1975. He had been sentenced by the lower courts to a 20-year life term for the murder of Bronzich and one year jail and Rs 2,000 fine in a fake passport case.<br /><br />66-year-old Sobhraj, a French national whose father was an Indian and mother a Vietnamese, has already spent over seven years in prison.<br /><br />The UNHRC had asked the government last June to respond to complaints filed by Sobhraj against the "biased” judgment. In November 2008, Sobhraj's lawyer had registered a complaint with the UNHRC, claiming that he was innocent and that he had been put through unfair trial in Nepal.<br /><br />The UN rights panel discussed Shobhraj’s appeal for justice and subsequently asked the government to reply within 180 days to the accusations, including that he was not given oppourtunity to consult his lawyers while in detention in 2003, the report said.<br /><br />Sobhraj had also complained that his case had been unnecessarily delayed by the authorities and not given an interpreter though he did not known the local language. <br /><br />He had claimed that he was sentenced on "unfounded media reports." Sobhraj's trial was splashed in the international media after he announced his engagement and then "marriage", while inside prison, to Nepali beauty Nihita Biswas in 2008.</p>
<p>The independence and impartiality of Nepal's criminal justice system cannot be questioned, the government told the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which had asked the authorities to reply within 180 days to Sobhraj's accusations of "biased" judgment.<br /><br />The government wrote to the UNHRC last week informing it that the Supreme Court's verdict and the handling of the case by police were in line with the laws of the land, the Kantipur online said today.<br /><br />"We have explained to the HRC that Sobhraj is guilty and that he was sentenced fairly," a source at the Prime Minister’s Office was quoted as saying in the report.<br /><br />Nicknamed the "Bikini killer" and "Serpent", he has been accused of luring young women and killing many of them. Sobhraj, who was earlier held in New Delhi's Tihar prison, was deported to France in 1997.<br /><br />On July 30, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence of the 'bikini killer' by lower court for killing US backpackerConnie Jo Bronzich in 1975. He had been sentenced by the lower courts to a 20-year life term for the murder of Bronzich and one year jail and Rs 2,000 fine in a fake passport case.<br /><br />66-year-old Sobhraj, a French national whose father was an Indian and mother a Vietnamese, has already spent over seven years in prison.<br /><br />The UNHRC had asked the government last June to respond to complaints filed by Sobhraj against the "biased” judgment. In November 2008, Sobhraj's lawyer had registered a complaint with the UNHRC, claiming that he was innocent and that he had been put through unfair trial in Nepal.<br /><br />The UN rights panel discussed Shobhraj’s appeal for justice and subsequently asked the government to reply within 180 days to the accusations, including that he was not given oppourtunity to consult his lawyers while in detention in 2003, the report said.<br /><br />Sobhraj had also complained that his case had been unnecessarily delayed by the authorities and not given an interpreter though he did not known the local language. <br /><br />He had claimed that he was sentenced on "unfounded media reports." Sobhraj's trial was splashed in the international media after he announced his engagement and then "marriage", while inside prison, to Nepali beauty Nihita Biswas in 2008.</p>