The Thimphu District Court’s criminal bench II sentenced Sangay Tsheltrim, Mr Bhutan 2017 to three months in prison for defamation and harassment. He can, however, pay in lieu of the prison term.
As per the judgement, the defendant was liable for two counts of crime but was given concurrent sentencing as he committed the crime together and also for not having prior criminal record.
The judgement passed last week stated that the defendant, Sangay Tsheltrim has alleged Bhutan Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Federation and a proprietor of a private school in Thimphu, Vivi Tshering of corruption and colluding and made personal remarks against Vivi Tshering on a Facebook live streaming on October 10, 2017.
Failing to present substantial evidence in the court, the Court ruled that his allegations were found to be false.
The case first surfaced after Sangay Tsheltrim went live on Facebook alleging that his performance in the ninth World Bodybuilding and Physique Championship in Mongolia 2017 was turned over by politics in the federation.
The judgement also stated that the defendant could have approached legal and concerned authorities if he thought the results were unfair rather than resorting to Facebook. And since many people commented against the victim and her family following the defendant’s Facebook post, the defendant was also found guilty of harassment.
The judgement also stated that the defendant was liable to pay compensation to the victim but it was waived off since the victim didn’t want compensation.
Meanwhile, the court also stated due to the minimum media literacy awareness conducted by the relevant organizations, social media related cases are on the rise. Therefore the court has also directed the Media Council to frame relevant regulations and guidelines to tackle the issue.
Passang Dorji
