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BINH THUAN, VIETNAM — Vietnamese authorities freed British glam rocker Gary Glitter on Tuesday after nearly three years in prison on child molestation charges, then moved immediately to deport him.
Guards removed Glitter, 64, from the Thu Duc prison in Binh Thuan province and were transporting him Tuesday morning to the Ho Chi Minh City airport, some three hours away, said prison director Tran Huu Thong.
Glitter has said he does not want to return to Britain. In a recent interview with Vietnamese newspaper Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police), Glitter said he was thinking about resuming his singing career and that he might move to Hong Kong or Singapore.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March, 2006, of molesting two girls, ages 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau. He served two years and nine months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behaviour.
In his 1970s heyday, Glitter performed in jumpsuits, silver platform shoes and bouffant wigs. He sold 18 million records and recorded a string of British top-10 hits.
His most successful song, the crowd-pleasing anthem Rock and Roll (Part 2) cracked the top 10 in the United States, where it continues to bring sports fans to their feet with its rousing one-word chorus: “Hey!”
In November, 2005, police launched a weeklong manhunt for Glitter after allegations arose that he had been molesting girls at his villa. He was arrested at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, where he was trying to board a flight to Bangkok.
Glitter said he was innocent of the charges. The court verdict said that Glitter had molested the girls repeatedly at his villa and in nearby hotels.
