Prison Time Withdrawn for Pastor in Bhutan Sentenced to Nearly Four Years

Sentence effectively reduced to a fine -- a bailable two years, four months.

  THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – A court in Bhutan yesterday reduced a sentence of nearly four years in prison to a bailable 28 months for pastor Tandin Wangyal, resulting in the father of three remaining free to attend to his family and ministry. More than 10 months after Pastor Wangyal was arrested for […]

Pastor in Bhutan Sentenced to Prison for Accepting Funds for Ministry

Second pastor also convicted but freed after paying fine.

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – A court in Bhutan on Wednesday sentenced pastor Tandin Wangyal to three years, 11 months in prison for receiving funds for ministry activities from a Christian organization. The verdict from the court in Dorokha, Samtse District asserts the pastor received US$11,864 in funding from a foreign Christian organization to conduct […]

Concerns about Religious Rights in Bhutan Raised at U.N. Council

Freedom of worship, legal recognition for Christians in democratic monarchy lacking, members say.

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – Several member countries of the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have raised concerns over lack of rights for religious minorities in Bhutan, but legal recognition for Christians remains nowhere in sight. At the UNHRC’s recent Universal Periodic Review of the Buddhist nation in Geneva, Switzerland, the United States and other […]

One of Two Pastors Arrested in Bhutan Faces Funds-Collecting Charge

Initial accusations of proselytizing, prior permit dropped.

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – Prosecutors in this tiny Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas are charging one of two pastors arrested in March with illegally collecting funds and have dropped charges against both of lacking permission to screen a film, sources said. The Office of the Attorney General in April charged M.B. Thapa, known […]

Two Pastors in Bhutan Jailed without Charges

Interior minister cites ‘proselytizing,’ but police find no evidence.

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – Two pastors in southern Bhutan have spent more than a month in jail without being formally charged. Police arrested M.B. Thapa (aka Lobzang) and Tandin Wangyal in Khapdani village in Samtse District on March 5. Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs Damcho Dorji said at a recent press conference that […]

Equal Rights for Christians in Bhutan Stalled

‘Anti-Conversion’ law quietly enacted while proposal for religious freedoms stymied.

THIMPHU, Bhutan (Morning Star News) – While Bhutan’s government has quietly enacted an “anti-conversion” law that Christians fear will be used against them, a proposal to grant Christians the right to construct church buildings and form organizations remains stalled.   The government of Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley – the first democracy after the Buddhist nation’s bloodless […]