VIETNAM: British ex-rock star Gary Glitter's three-year prison sentence in Vietnam is reduced by three months.

Record ID: 749470

  • Title: VIETNAM: British ex-rock star Gary Glitter's three-year prison sentence in Vietnam is reduced by three months.
  • Date: 9th February 2007
  • Summary: (EU)HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (FEBRUARY 8, 2007)(REUTERS) WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF OFFICE BUILDING IN HO CHI MINH CITY
  • Embargoed: 24th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA65UZLGOW493DC3Y2SSHT7DHCE
  • Story Text: British ex-rocker Garry Glitter, who was convicted in March 2006 of sexually molesting two underage Vietnamese girls, has had his sentenced reduced by three months, his lawyer said. A British ex-rocker imprisoned in Vietnam for sexually molesting two underage girls had his three-year sentence reduced by three months on Wednesday (February 7), his lawyer said.
    Garry Glitter, 62, was convicted during a one-day trial in March last year and subsequently lost an appeal.
    The time served is being counted from the date of his arrest in November 2005 and the decision by a panel of judges means he will be released in August 2008.
    "On this occasion, he has been granted an amnesty of three months' reduction from his prison term. It means he will serve until August 2008. But, as I mentioned before, he still has some chances to be released earlier than this date (August 2008)," Glitter's lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, said from his office in Ho Chi Minh City.
    Every year at major national holidays -- such as the New Lunar Year, or Tet, the fall of Saigon (April 30) celebration and National Day (September 2) -- the Vietnamese president grants amnesties or reductions of sentences for prisoners.
    "I know that he is healthy and I think at this moment he knows he has been granted an amnesty of three months. As you may know, for a prisoner -- for one who is being detained or jailed -- even one day is very precious for them. So having reduction of three months, would make him very glad," Kinh said
    Glitter denied he molested the girls while living in a villa in the southern resort town of Vung Tau. He was arrested at Ho Chi Minh City airport in November 2005 while trying to leave the country.
    Glitter's real name is Paul Francis Gadd. He rose to fame in the 1970s with a bouffant hairstyle, make-up, high heels and "glam rock" stage performances.
    His hits included "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)" and "I Love You Love Me Love," "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I'm the Leader of Gang (I am)."
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