Bhutan: Another court-case involving a Facebook post

According to The Diplomat reporting on 28 August 2018, a female journalist was convicted of alleged libel on 6 August 2018 and had to pay a fine. The journalist had written a post on her personal Facebook account about a woman mistreating a child. Meanwhile, the country is gearing up for elections, as reported by The South Asian Monitor on 20 August 2018. The primary round of the National Assembly Elections 2018 will be held on 15 September 2018 and the general round on 18 October 2018. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "At present, there are four registered political parties and the elections are not likely to bring any big surprises as all the parties have similar programs, especially where the religious foundation of the country is concerned. However, one of the questions which seems to be bothering voters is the protection of civil rights. This was recently shown in the case of the Bhutanese journalist, who is the second person to be taken to court for "˜defamation via Facebook" in Bhutan. The court decision directly challenges freedom of expression and the press as guaranteed by the Constitution and in protest many Bhutanese quietly started collecting money for the journalist to pay the fine. In contrast, freedom of religion seems to have no such interest among the population."