Prosecutors in this tiny Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas have, in late May, charged one of two pastors arrested in March with illegally collecting funds and have dropped charges against both men of lacking permission to screen a film, sources said.
The Office of the Attorney General in April charged M.B. Thapa, known as Lobzang, and Tandin Wangyal with attempting to screen a film and illegally collecting funds after no evidence was found to charge them with proselytising, as the home and cultural affairs minister had initially sought. A trial court earlier in May dismissed the film screening charge, relieving Lobzang of both charges, while Wangyal was called for two evidence hearings about findings on his laptop.
Raising outside funds
Wangyal was charged with collecting funds from within and outside of Bhutan. He denied the charge, which under Article 71 of the Civil Society Organization Act of Bhutan outlaws raising funds for activities ‘in contravention of the laws of the country’ and without prior permission. The pastors were arrested in Khapdani village, Dorokha area in Samtse District.
‘I would never think of collecting money from the poor villagers,’ said Wangyal. ‘They are trying to link information from my laptop and hard disk to the Khapdani case, which is totally irrelevant’.
Planned seminar
Before winning release on bail on April 22, the two pastors were detained for 49 days without formal charges. On the evening of March 4, they had spoken at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new house at the invitation of another Christian in Khapdani. They were planning to hold a three-day seminar in the village the next day that included the film screening, but as they were trying to transport a child who was ill to a hospital, police arrested them.
