Former British glam rocker Gary Glitter was charged yesterday with committing "obscene acts with children" in Vietnam and could face more serious charges that carry the death penalty, prosecutors said.
Nguyen Van Xung, deputy director of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial prosecutor's office, said that Glitter, who stands accused of having sex with a 12-year-old girl, could later be charged with child rape.
"This morning I signed a decision to temporarily detain Glitter for four months. He is charged with obscene acts with children," Xung said, noting that the decision was to be conveyed to Glitter later in the day.
"We have done medical checks on the girl who is under 13 years old and if we find enough evidence, we will change the charge to child rape," Xung said.
If convicted of that charge, the disgraced 1970s rocker -- famed for his outlandish outfits and a bouffant wig -- could face the death penalty by firing squad, according to Vietnamese law.
"We have asked the court to have an early trial for this case" once the investigation is concluded, Xung said.
Pending further inquiries, Glitter will remain in detention in a Vietnamese jail for four months, in accordance with a decision taken on Thursday and approved by prosecutors.
Other officials have said conditions at the detention centre where Glitter is being held were poor and that he was being permitted to buy food from outside.
Glitter's Vietnamese lawyer, who said he was awaiting formal notification of the charges but was already aware of them, seemed resigned to his client's possible conviction, but on the lesser charge.
"If they [prosecutors] have enough evidence, we can accept article 116 of the penal code [on obscene acts with children] because it is the lesser charge," he said.
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