On Tuesday, the Royal Bhutan Police detained the senior-most justice of the Supreme Court, Kuenlay Tshering, and the Pemagatshel dzongkhag drangpon (the senior-most Associate Justice) Yeshey Dorji. In addition, former Royal Body Guard commandant Brigadier Thinley Tobgye was also arrested after being accused of plotting to overthrow the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), Lieutenant General Batoo Tshering, by incriminating him in “an untrue corruption case”.
According to the country’s police, the motive of the trio was to take over top judiciary positions of the country, including the RBA’s Chief Operations Officer, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General or Registrar General of Supreme Court. According to news reports, Tobgay was alleged to have illegally procured military documents related to the “procurement of vehicles from the United Nations”. While the tender has been confirmed to be handled publicly and fairly, the documents were intended to be misused to undermine the position of Tshering.
The incident first came to light a few months ago when a woman named Khandu Wangmo, who is reportedly the wife of the Pemagatshel judge Yeshey Dorji, was arrested for attempting to hand over these documents to Justice Tshering so that charges could be framed against the COO by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan. While Wangmo disclosed their conspiratorial relationship, more recently, Brigadier Tobgye’s detainment in connection with a criminal conspiracy against the Chief Operations Officer—equivalent to Army chief—of the Royal Bhutan Army, confirmed her evidence regarding the conspiracy.
The Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel reported that the three accused were “friends who were well known to each other and belonged to the same group”. It also added that “The case was charge-sheeted to the Thimphu District Court based on the investigation by the RBP,” and that “the Thimphu District court within the next ten days will allow for a preliminary hearing where the accused will get a copy of the charge sheet and also get an opportunity to present their side of the story.” Currently, the three have been denied bail by the Thimphu district court and remain in custody until their first official hearing on February 27.
Although Brigadier Tobgye is not directly involved in the conspiracy, he has been detained on the count of having knowledge about the plot. According to the Bhutanese penal code, a defendant is deemed “guilty of the offence of criminal conspiracy to commit a crime if more than one person agrees to engage in conduct that constitutes as a crime”.
Bhutan Detains Senior Military General and Two Judges for ‘Overthrow’ Plot
Two top judges and a senior army officer in Bhutan have been accused of plotting to overthrow the country’s chief justice and military chief.
February 19, 2021
SOURCE: IANS/PIB