Bhante,Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: However, this case is different:Smuggling contraband is an offence of defeat for a bhikkhu. Depending on what exactly the bhikkhu did in this case, he may have fallen into an offence of defeat."We will charge him with smuggling of controlled material, which is a fourth degree felony," an official of the Bhutanese Narcotic Drug and Law Enforcement unit told the BBC.
I read the link you provided and it seemed to be about willfully evading customs duties. If this monk's word is to be believed, then it seems he had already paid the customs duties, but his crime was that he forgot to save a receipt. I don't really see how he could be blamed for this, and hopefully his charges will be dismissed.
This seems like a rather draconian law. Which brings me to my question. Are monks required to follow laws, even when the laws are clearly oppressive and unjust?Smokers can legally import only up to 200 cigarettes or 150 grams of other tobacco products a month. They must provide a customs receipt when challenged by police.
A senior Bhutanese police official confirmed the arrest of the monk at the weekend after he failed to provide receipts to back his claim that he had purchased 72 packets of chewing tobacco from the Indian border town of Jaigaon.
The monk told the police he was "not aware of the new laws and had not kept the receipt"