Posted on 02/21/2006 12:19:14 PM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Hanoi (dpa) - Fallen glam rock god Gary Glitter will go on trial March 2 in southern Vietnam on charges of molesting two Vietnamese girls, a court official said Monday.
The 61-year-old former singer, whose hits include Rock and Roll (Part 2), is accused of molesting two girls, ages 11 and 12. An international pariah since his 1999 conviction in Britain for child pornography, he now faces three to seven years in prison if convicted of "lewd acts with minors."
The trial, originally scheduled to take place this week before being postponed for unnamed reasons, was expected to last two days, according to Nguyen Van Co, chief judge of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People's Court.
"I have ordered the court to hold the trial on March 2 and 3," Co said by telephone Monday.
Another judge, Hoang Thanh Tung, will preside over the trial, the chief judge said.
Final decisions on whether the trial will be open to the public will be left to Tung, but Co has indicated previously that the trial will be closed although reporters may be allowed to hear the reading of the verdict and sentence.
The former singer, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, has denied molesting the girls, maintaining that he was only teaching them English and is being targeted for his wealth. He continues to make more than 100,000 dollars per year in royalties.
In 1999, Glitter was convicted of child pornography in his native Great Britain and served half of a four-month sentence.
After his release, Glitter left Britain and has since lived in Cuba and Cambodia. He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002 after the international press discovered him there and reported he was living with an underage girl.
Vietnamese police arrested him November 19 at Ho Chi Minh City's airport while preparing to board a flight out of the country. He had been living in the seaside resort of Vung Tau, 50 kilometres east of Ho Chi Minh City, for about six months before his arrest.
Disgusting. No one should play his music ever.
It gets played at every football game ever, I think. Some sort of rule.
He's getting off way too easy, IMO.
I have a URL's video of muslims impaling a guy for some crime, but I won't post it here, as I'd get into some trouble. If you want to see it, FReepMail me and I'll send you the URL.
No more boom boom for Mr. Glitter. With ANY mamasan.
Obviously, embarking on a World Pedophilia Tour! Ewww!
Don't think the Vietnamese are gonna give him the same easy treatment as the Brits.... :o
I'm sure you can bribe a Vietnamese judge, and with a lot less money than it would take to bribe a High Court Judge in the UK.
Possibly....they may want to make an example out of him....or just send him back to the Brits...
Duh-duh-de-duh, da-da (hey) Duh-duhde-duh (hey)
And that brings in a hundred grand a year. What a world!
For any GG fans that may be out there: I just heard on BBC that he was convicted and will spend several years in prison. He is shocked.
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