Bhutanese reporter is imprisoned

By Subir Bhaumik BBC News,

Calcutta It is argued that Mr Acharya did not have fair legal representation A Bhutanese journalist has been jailed for seven years for alleged links to a Maoist group, officials say. Officials confirmed reports from an exiled Bhutanese media group that Shantiram Acharya, 20, was sentenced after returning to the country. Mr Acharya worked for the monthly Bhutan Reporter and had been living in exile in Nepal before his return. The Bhutanese High court found him “guilty of involvement in subversive activities” against Bhutan. It said that police had furnished evidence of Mr Acharya participating in a military training course organised by the outlawed Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist). This group is largely made up of Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin who have been living in camps in Nepal for two decades. Bhutan has blamed it for a series of explosions in the southern districts of the country in recent months. The party is banned in Bhutan. Photographs According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Mr Acharya was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives after a long stay in Nepal. The APFA alleged that he was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession. Bhutanese police are believed to have found photographs of army outposts in Mr Acharya’s possession, which they think were taken to plan attacks. The APFA says that Mr Acharya was only convicted because he could not hire a lawyer to defend himself as he had no money and there are few independent lawyers in Bhutan. It says the case must be reviewed and Mr Acharya defended by independent lawyers in a fresh trial if Bhutan wants to convince the world it is a genuine democracy. The Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist) has however denied any link with Mr Acharya, saying in a press release this week that the jailed reporter was never a member of the party. Bhutan held parliamentary elections last year and officially became a constitutional monarchy, although many believe the king still has substantial powers.

Bhutan: Journalist sentenced for seven and a half years – accused of supporting Maoists

Kathmandu, Jan 21st 2009 A 20-year-old exiled journalist of Nepali origin has been sentenced to jail for seven and a half years for terrorist activities by the royal government of Bhutan even as the party in question denied having any links with him.

 

Shantiram Acharya, who used to work for the Bhutan Reporter, a monthly newspaper brought out amidst great hardship by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, received the sentencing by Bhutan’s high court for being allegedly involved in subversive activities against the Druk kingdom, including participating in military training conducted by the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist)  in Nepal, an armed underground organisation that is banned in Bhutan and believed to be operating from Nepal and India to end Bhutan’s hereditary monarchy.

According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Acharya, a Bhutanese of Nepali origin who was living in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives.

Acharya was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession, APFA said. According to the exiled media group, the Bhutan police charge sheet said he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army.

APFA also said it believed Acharya was convicted because he could not hire an attorney to defend him as Bhutan does not have any independent attorney. Also, he had no money since he was produced in the court without the knowledge of his family members.

Though the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist), from whom Bhutan police said Acharya had received arms training, said it had no association with the exiled reporter, the denial was not heeded by the Bhutanese court.

Condemning the charges and the verdict by court, which APFA said was controlled by the state, the media group is asking the Bhutan government to open the case for review and let the 20-year-old hire an independent attorney.

It is also asking for the jailed journalist’s whereabouts to be made public.

In November 2008, Bhutan was catapulted into world attention as it celebrated the crowning of its fifth king, the 28-year-old Oxford-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.

The crowning was projected as another step towards democracy by the isolated Druk kingdom as the previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, abdicated in favour of his son.

The change of guard is viewed with mixed feelings by over 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin who have been languishing in Nepal for nearly two decades since their expulsion from Bhutan during a crackdown on ethnic communities.

While some of the refugees hope the new king will show a human face and re-open talks with Nepal for their repatriation, others however feel that the old king still continues to wield power and the abdication and drafting of the first-ever constitution are a facade to placate foreign donors who want Bhutan to respect human rights.

Press release from Communist party of Bhutan.

I got my hands on one press release from the Communist Party of Bhutan – Maoist. It is dated February 02, 2008.

Here’s what it says in general, with “raktim abhivadan” (red salute, I reckon)

“In the changing political scenario of Bhutan, the Communist Party of Bhutan – Maoists has also changed its strategies. CPB – Maoist, which considers all the parties against the monarchy as cohorts, has decided to take brutal actions against those parties that try to harm this party.”

Then it lists out the “Present Targets for Physical Action” that are -

Block Chiefs (Gup) and their allies living on the land of refugees (in Bhutan) and ruling over the people.
Government officials and Indian traders that have alliance with the state and are engaged in commission-ism.

The press release also states “the CPB Maoists has decided to take a vicious physical action against one unidentified Moto Rai of Beldangi 3 for attempting to disrupt the party’s people’s revolution.”

I suppose that Beldang 3 means the Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal and the party is taking in a lot of inspiration from what CPN Maoists did during the insurgency in Nepal.

recieved via mail by bhutan kranthikari.

Bhutan communist party

recieved via mail 

February 13th 2008

The number of underground political parties and organisations being
active in Bhutanese society has reached nine.

These parties include Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist),
Bhutan Communist Party (Maoist), Bhutan Tigers Force, Cobra Bhuan Party,
Bhutan Kopra Party, Black Cat, All Bhutan Revolutionary Peasants’
Association, All Bhutan Revolutionary Students’ Association and Bhutan
Republican Youth Association.
Some of these parties claim that they have launched people’s movement in
Bhutan.
Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist), which claims to be an
organised party, recently divided into two factions — Birat and
Bikalpa.
Surya, who leads the Bhutan Communist Party (Maoists), said the armed
struggle in Bhutan is in the final phase now.
The Bhutan Tigers Force has stated that their major demand is the
removal of security posts from refugee camps and said the party was
against third country resettlement process.

The Revolutionary Peasants’ Association and the All Bhutan Revolutionary
Students’ Association claim that they are the sister organisations of
the Bhutan Communist Party (Maoist). “We support the agitation of the
Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist),” central member of the
Bhutan Republican Youth Association Bhaskar said.

Bhutanese Maoists launch class struggle

Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM) led by Birat has owned up responsibility to the explosion that took place in Samtse district inside Bhutan yesterday night, reported refugee-run new agency Bhutan News Service.According to the report, Central Committee Member of the party who identified himself as ‘John’ over a telephone conversation from undisclosed location quoted a press release issued today by Birat, general secretary of CPB-MLM, as saying that the party has begun launching ‘armed rural class struggle’ inside Bhutan to establish people’s government. John further informed that the party would launch program in three phases that include resettlement of Bhutanese people occupying the land and properties used by evictees of early 1990s, taking physical action against those spying against their democratic struggle, and deconstruction of government infrastructures in rural areas of the country. CPB-MLM has also claimed that their Sunday attack damaged all properties meant for the upcoming necessary National Assembly election scheduled for March 24 that was kept at Renewal Natural Resources (RNR) office in Ghumauney gewog inside Bhutan. John further quoted Birat’s press release as terming their armed lunch as a ‘first successful attack’.A bomb had exploded behind the Renewal Natural Resources (RNR) office in Ghumauney gewog at midnight on Sunday.The RNR office was used as a polling station during the first phase of upper house election on December 31 and has been used as residence by returning officer and the national officer deployed for National Assembly election scheduled for March 24.