Ms. Khulan Tsoodol is currently being held in the No. 461 Detention Center in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the independent country of Mongolia. As a renowned dissident writer, poet, and citizen of this sovereign and democratic country, Khulan was arrested on January 20, 2023 by the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia on accusations of “being a foreign agent.”

On March 29, 2023, Khulan managed to get an open letter to the people of Mongolia out of the detention center. In this open letter, Khulan reveals that the Mongolian authorities are attempting to criminalize her for “publishing [her] books in Southern Mongolia and for meeting with [her] college friends there to discuss [her] books, other publications, and related matters.”

She is the second prominent dissident writer in the independent democratic country of Mongolia to be accused recently of “being a foreign agent” for their work and activism for the cause of Southern Mongolians living under Chinese colonial occupation. Last February, another Mongolian citizen, the writer, journalist, and human-rights defender Mr. Munkhbayar Chuluundorj, was arrested by the Mongolian General Intelligence Agency and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “collaborating with a foreign intelligence agent to engage in spying activities against the People’s Republic of China.” The “foreign intelligence agent” in this case was Mr. Rajandra Ja Manan, the Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy to Mongolia, who allegedly met with Mr. Chuluundorj to discuss the human-rights situation in Chinese-occupied Southern Mongolia.

The following is an English translation of Ms. Khulan Tsoodol’s open letter, “My Message to My Beloved People.” (English translation by the SMHRIC):

My Message to My Beloved People

It is time for me to tell the truth about the serious accusations of “treason” brought against me, an ordinary, patriotic female writer who loves her nation and her people from the bottom of her heart.

My hope that the Mongolian judiciary system would inform the people of the truth of my “case” after a speedy investigation has been completely shattered. Instead, the authorities have intentionally spread disinformation through news and social media to groundlessly accuse me of being recruited by a foreign intelligence agency to leak state secrets. Via these means, they have attempted to bar me from communicating with the outside world to tell the truth, linking my case with certain issues of Mongolia-China relationship. I have been labeled as a “criminal” and locked up in prison for almost three months. I have been given only a few minutes to talk to my family members and even to my attorney via phone through thick glass and under the close surveillance of the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia.

My unquestionable love for my nation and my people is deeply ingrained into my writing, my activities, and all my work. Nothing could be more disheartening than seeing the complete betrayal of the hope I expressed in this poem:

“May my children be kind enough not to cut off the heads of blossoms

“May my nation be benign enough not to cut off the heads of dissidents”

Now, the bloodthirsty state machinery that suckled on dirty money from oligarchs seems ready to cut my head off.

Before then, I would like to say the following to my people:

1. I have never been recruited by or worked for any foreign intelligence agency.

2. I have never had access to any state secrets, let alone leaking them.

3. All Mongolians know I made a public statement in 2016 to express my opposition to the selection of an oligarch’s son as the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu.

I have been unjustly persecuted due to what I have said, done, and written to defend the interests of my nation. The authorities are desperately attempting to criminalize me for publishing my books in Southern Mongolia and for meeting with my college friends there to discuss my books, other publications, and related matters.

I have been seriously ill and have fallen unconscious multiple times during the interrogation process. Despite my need for immediate hospitalization due to my physical breakdown, I declare that I will go on a hunger strike in defense of my rights. I am ready to give my life if the Mongolian state, engulfed by corruption, needs to sacrifice a woman who loves her people and her nation.