~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

Year :      [2006]      [2005]      [2004]      [2003]      [2002]      [2001]      [2000]      [1999]      [1998]      [1997]

Glitter to face Vietnam court in late February

HANOI - Vietnam will try 61-year-old British glam rocker Gary Glitter for child molestation in late February, an official said on Friday. "The court is in the process of preparing all prosecution procedures to try him for engaging in perverse activities with children in late February," the official said from the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The provincial court was considering allowing foreign reporters to attend the trial, but no final decision had been made.

"There should be no secret about this. The trial should be open to the public to prevent such crimes from taking place again," the provincial official, who declined to be identified, added. Police investigators have said they found no grounds to charge the 1970s rocker, whose real name is Paul Gadd, with raping children, a much more serious offence that can carry the death penalty.

But police had asked for a closed trial to protect the identity of the two girls involved. Glitter has denied allegations that he molested girls as young as 12, insisting he was helping them with their English. He could face up to 12 years in jail if found guilty of engaging in sex acts with children. The age of consent in communist Vietnam is 16. Glitter was jailed for four months in Britain in 1999 after being found guilty of storing more than 4,000 images of child pornography on his computer.

Reuters - February 3, 2006.