Source: Morning Star News, January 20, 2015
[On January 19] a court in Bhutan reduced a sentence of nearly four years in prison to 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 holding a public gathering in Samtse District, he was granted bail of US$1,523 for a sentence reduced from three years, 11 months to two years and four months (and 11 days) in what sources said was a move by the judiciary to dispose of a conviction for which it had no evidence.
“It has been a miracle verdict for me,” a joyous Pastor Wangyal told Morning Star News by phone minutes after the verdict in Dorokha. “I was rather surprised that the court had reduced my sentence.”
As he waited for a final verdict from the Samtse District Court, he spent three days of prayer and fasting on a mountain top with five friends, a friend wrote in an email.
“He said God prepared him for receiving his appeal’s verdict on January 19,” the friend said.
» See another story of captives released: CAR Cleric and French Aid Worker Released (World Watch Monitor).