KATHMANDU, Jan 21: One of the correspondents of The Bhutan Reporter Monthly, published from exile in Nepal, has been sentenced for seven and half years in jail, according to Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan.
APFA said in a statement on Wednesday that a Bhutanese High Court sentenced Shanti Ram Acharya in jail for his involvement in “subversive activities against Bhutan by participating in military training conducted by Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxists Leninists Maoists) in Nepal”.
Corruption convict Bharati released before completing jail term
Acharya, who had been to Bhutan to meet his relatives, was charged for entering the country to carry out terrorist activities. Arrested on January 16, 2007, Acharya was produced before the court for preliminary hearing on March 16. For two months, he was kept at the police custody where “it is obvious he faced tremendous and inhumanly torture to confess the charges”, the statement said.
However, the evidences produced by the police did not mention that Acharya carried out any terrorist activities in Bhutan but only mentioned that he received training with Nepalese Maoists in eastern Nepal. None of the evidence produced by the police speaks that Acharya had acted against Bhutan or Bhutanese government.
APFA has condemned the charges slapped on him and verdict given by the state-controlled high court and demanded to let him hire independent attorney for his defense. "We seek support from ICRC and other international human rights groups to hire independent attorney for Acharya for defense," said APFA.
