Disgraced rocker Gary Glitter arrived back in Bangkok yesterday after Hong Kong denied him entry, continuing a two-day odyssey that began when he was released from a Vietnamese prison after serving time for molesting children.
Glitter, a British citizen, flew to Hong Kong on Wednesday night after Thai authorities barred him from entering the country. Hong Kong immigration officials then refused him entry after interviewing him, a British Foreign Office spokesman said.
Police Colonel Worawat Amornwiwat said Glitter arrived back in Bangkok yesterday and would again be denied entry. He said Glitter’s airline, Thai Airways, should ensure he continues on his originally planned journey to England.
“Thailand is not allowing him to enter the country and Hong Kong is turning him back so there is no choice for him now,” Worawat said. “It is the responsibility of Thai Airways to take him out of the country.”
On Tuesday night, Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was taken from his prison cell to a Thai Airways flight out of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. He had been booked to change planes in Bangkok en route to London, but refused to board the flight to Britain, complaining of an earache.
Lieutenant General Chatchawal Suksomchit, chief of Thailand’s immigration police, said Glitter was denied entry because under Thai immigration laws those convicted of child sex abuse in a foreign country can be barred.
Glitter, 64, was convicted in March 2006 of committing “obscene acts with children.”
He served two years and nine months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.
Meanwhile Britain announced new measures to crack down on child sex offenders on Wednesday, as Glitter’s release from jail reignited a fierce debate about pedophiles.
In an announcement timed just hours before Glitter was originally due back in London, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith unveiled a raft of new measures to tighten restrictions on child sex offenders and their movements.
“The UK has a rigorous system in place for managing child sex offenders which is among the toughest in the world. The changes I’m announcing today will strengthen that even further,” she said.
These could include taking away pedophiles’ passports and extending travel bans.
Branding Glitter “despicable,” Smith said she found it “pretty hard to imagine” that he would be allowed to travel abroad again.
Doctor Michele Elliott, of the children’s charity Kidscape, told the Daily Mail newspaper: “It makes you sick ... He should go and live on a desert island. Nobody wants him.”
And Lorraine Williams, landlady of the Swan Inn in Glitter’s old village, told reporters: “He won’t be getting a pint in here. We have children coming in with their parents. You can’t be too careful.”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS