- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2023
- Event Description
Journalist Naran Unurtsetseg, the editor-in-chief of the Mongolian news website Zarig.mn, was arrested on December 4 on charges of contempt of court and spreading false information. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Mongolian affiliate, the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists (CMJ), call for the immediate release of the journalist and criticise efforts to silence and block the online publication.
Unurtsetseg’s arrest on December 4 was witnessed by Mongolian media workers in the editorial office of Zarig.mn in Ulaanbaatar, the capitol city of Mongolia. The editor was allegedly charged with contempt of court and “spreading false information” under Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code of Mongolia after posting an on her personal Facebook account about the inhumanity of a prolonging court hearing involving an elderly individual in Mongolia.
A court hearing in the Songinokhairkhan District court from December 1 to 4, approved the prosecutor’s proposal to detain Unurtsetseg for one month. Earlier, on November 29, the Criminal Court of First Instance of Chingeltei District also approveda proposal to take preventive measures to restrict Unurtsetseg from leaving Mongolia. Additionally, a legal and administrative body in Mongolia imposed a block on the access to the zarig.mn website within Mongolian territories, and added the website of zarig.mn to the list of illegal domain names, according to a joint statement released by The Media Council and Globe International Centre.
In response to the curtailing of the editor and its online portal, Unurtsetseg and journalists from Zarig.mn held a sit-in protest at Sukhbaatar Square on December 1. The CMJ said after it submitted demands to the Regulatory Commission of Communications, the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications, the National Police Agency, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Mongolia, the zarig.mn website was subsequently unblocked on December 4.
Unurtsetseg has been variously pursued for her journalism work in recent years and faced 12 defamation charges in 2019, followed by four in 2020 – all initiated by politicians mentioned in her reporting. Despite successfully beating most of the cases, Unurtsetseg still faces a fine of around US$800, roughly the equivalent to two months' salary for the average journalist in Mongolia.
On December 8, Unurtsetseg's lawyers attended a hearing and appealed to the court for the journalist’s release due to unjustified detention. They also raised concerns that some legal provisions may have been violated during the investigation, and that the case's investigation was deliberately accelerated.
Media activists advise that law enforcement agencies and authorities in Mongolia were using Article 13.14 of the Criminal Code to restrict journalists’ capacity to perform their professional duties by investigating and charging them with crimes under the code. Article 13.14, which addresses the spreading of false information and stipulates penalties such as fines or public service, came into effect on January 10, 2020. Since then, numerous journalists have faced accusations of crimes.
CMJ reports that approximately 10 journalists are currently under investigation, including Unurtsetseg; Uranchimeg, of asu.mn), and A. Bayarmaa, of tas.mn; as well as the journalist and founder of Zarig.mn, J. Battul. The latter is part of the “Uncensored Team” program which is currently investigating and reporting onthe Foreign Investment Law in Mongolia and its possible revision. Battul has faced complaints from the Member of Parliament, Minister Ch. Khurelbaatar.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Judicial Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 2, 2024
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- May 3, 2023
- Event Description
On May 3, 2023, four policemen with two police vehicles from China came to the independent country of Mongolia and arrested Mr. Lhamjab Borjigin, a prominent Southern Mongolian writer in exile, at his temporary residence in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Shortly after the arrest, Borjigin was deported back to China on the same day.
A week before the arrest, Borjigin notified the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) that the Chinese authorities were harassing and threatening his family members in Southern Mongolia.
“My family members told me that an army of police and security personnel are visiting my family and pressuring them to bring me back,” Borjigin said in the audio message to the SMHRIC. “They are claiming to come to Mongolia with my daughter and bring me back.”
The SMHRIC immediately contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR’s) regional office in Bangkok, Thailand, and demanded urgent action to prevent Borjigin from being deported to China. An unidentified official from the office responded to the SMHRIC by email, asking for Borjigin’s phone number and email address. After providing Borjigin’s contact details, the SMHRIC did not receive further communication from the office. The question of whether the office was able to contact him remained unanswered.
“Yes, unfortunately, he was brought back to China on May 3. Some of his family members were also among the dispatchers from China,” a close friend of Borjigin from Ulaanbaatar told the SMHRIC. “Nothing we can do about it now. All we can do is publish his books here.”
As a well-known Southern Mongolian dissident writer and the author of numerous books, Borjigin was sentenced to two years in prison in 2019 for writing a book entitled China’s Cultural Revolution. In 2021, following his prison term, he was placed under indefinite “residential surveillance,” a form of house arrest.
On March 6, 2023, Borjigin managed to escape from China and arrived in the independent country of Mongolia. According to his testimony to the SMHRIC, his plan was to publish his three books in Mongolia to inform the world of how the Chinese colonial regime had established itself in Southern Mongolia and how the Mongolian resistance had been quashed.
“These are my plans should I be lucky enough to live a few more years in peace here without being followed, monitored and questioned, until being called by Karl Marx to join him in heaven,” Borjigin said in the testimony.
This is the fifth major case of the deportation of Southern Mongolian dissidents in exile from the independent country of Mongolia since 2009. In most cases, the Chinese authorities sent their police directly to Mongolia to make their arrests on Mongolian soil. They completed the deportation process in coordination with the Government of Mongolia.
In 2009, Chinese police dispatchers arrested Mr. Batzangaa, a Southern Mongolian dissident and Mongol-Tibetan medical school principal, in front of the UNHCR office building in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Along with his daughter and wife, he was deported to China and sentenced to three years in prison followed by indefinite surveillance.
In a similar case, Chinese police dispatchers recently detained and interrogated a Southern Mongolian dissident named Adiyaa in Bangkok, Thailand. Thanks to the urgent intervention of the UNHCR’s regional office, Mr. Adiyaa was swiftly resettled in Canada shortly after.
As China doubles down on efforts to pressure her neighboring countries to silence criticism, Mr. Munkhbayar Chuluundorj, a Mongolian citizen, human rights defender, writer and journalist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year. The charge brought against him was “collaborating with a foreign intelligence agency to spy against the People’s Republic of China.” Chuluundorj has been an outspoken critic of China’s human rights violations in Southern Mongolia and the Mongolian authorities’ unusually cozy relationship with the Chinese Communist regime.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation, Judicial Harassment, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 14, 2023
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Jan 20, 2023
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2022
- Event Description
On October 4 a video of local herders protesting the Erdeneburen hydroelectric power plant construction in Uvs Province’s Umnogovi sum was circulated online. It shows men, women, elderly and children preventing the passage of heavy machinery despite being harassed by several policemen. As predicted by human rights NGOs the population of Uvs Province’s Umnogov sum Ulyast Bagh have started to protest against the work of Erdeneburen HPP, which is threatening to deprive them of their ancestral lands.
As the video went viral, Ch. Gantulga, the project leader of the Erdeneburen hydropower plant project gave an interview in which he promised to use more force to suppress local protest. According to Gantulga, Erdeneburen HPP preparation work has been completed and the ground drilling work has started (Usually this activity is a part of the project preparation, helping to assess the feasibility of dam building -here and further RwB comment). Drilling took place in nine locations in Erdeneburen and Miangad Sum of Hovd Province over the last 45 days. As of October 3rd, the drilling work was set to start at the location “where the HPP dam tunnel will pass through the Ulyast Bagh area of Uvs Province, Umnogov Sum”. The work requires a large drilling rig, excavators, bulldozers, etc., and includes the development of temporary roads. The project team, engineers and technical workers of the Chinese state-owned company that won an international tender, as well as members of the police department of Uvs province center, and the police of the Umnogov sum department were all moving to the site accompanying this machinery (Presence of police indicates that they expected to meet some resistance).
On October 4 the people of the area protested against the entry of equipment and experts into the Shizhigt Gorge (In 2011 Khovd River basin management plan WWF experts recommended that the area be protected as a biodiversity conservation area). The land for the construction of the HPP was taken by the Government of Mongolia for special needs of the state two years ago (without any free prior informed consent of the land inhabitants). The advance of the machinery has stopped as protesters did not yield to bulldozers and police.
From Gantulga’s perspective, those actions of “people who do not have certificates of ownership of land acquired for special needs of the state” are trying to disrupt important and strategic large-scale development and thus acting illegally. He claims that over the past year, his subordinates have negotiated with citizens, held meetings, and evaluated their real estate. In April 2022, the government made a decision to provide one-time cash compensation to each affected citizen within the framework of work to keep the livelihood of the citizens “normal”.
Gantulga claims that his project will “further the energy independence and independence of Mongolia” (An additional large debt to China is hardly a step towards “independence”). He laments that citizens are disrespecting the law and risking their lives organizing a riot. However, “12 policemen are not strong enough” to suppress the citizens, so, to push forward a major project under the government’s policy, they will request deployment of more force and take “appropriate measures”.
Having his own understanding of law, Gantulga accused locals of “illegal actions in the past” such as calling on the head of the government to deliberately stop or delay the project, writing letters “to create misunderstandings between the two countries”, or inviting the population of other affected areas to join the protest (All those actions are a manifestation of basic civil rights and thus cannot be considered illegal).
It is important to remember that two months ago the Minister of Justice Nyambaatar announced that anyone who expresses doubts, or acts or makes statements that result in delayed implementation of strategic development projects will be charged with sabotage under Mongolia’s Criminal Code Article 19.6. In addition, the government has established a task force to investigate and calculate cost of lost opportunity from those responsible for the delay in the implementation (see detailed account of earlier steps taken by the government).
On October 6, a press conference was held in Ulaan Baatar where project official Ch.Gantulga and Ts.Sosorbaram, a soviet-school water engineer responsible for the project EIA, tried to explain that the “project can proceed smoothly”.
Regarding the resettlement Ch.Gantulgaclarified what cash allowances are going to be given to citizens. He said, “According to Government Resolution No. 357 of 2019, 28 thousand hectares of land for the implementation of the Erdeneburen HPP project was taken for special state needs. Before the 2019 decree was issued, 270 households or 1241 citizens were registered in the affected area. In April 2022, the government decided to provide money to those citizens. Therefore, compensation of 15.2 million MNT will be provided to 1240 citizens of 270 registered households. This money has been included in the budget” (Thus each person will get roughly USD 4500 in a one-time disbursement, which may be not enough to restore their livelihoods). Map shows reservoir area (98 km2) and area expropriated by the GoM for this project (green contour 280 km2). We found no explanation why the government has confiscated almost 3 times more land than it needs for the project.
The official list includes 145 households of Bayan-Olgi province and 125 households of Uvs province. According to the EIA, a plan was made to relocate these families in 2022-2024. The government plans to make herdsmen move to neighboring soums and even to build some resettlement housing for them in one place. Compensation will be given to citizens who move.
Judging from available information it is a “Chinese-style” resettlement in which indigenous nomads are forced to concentrate in one place, while pasture for their livestock may be not available there. Further, emphasis on “registered households” makes one suspect that, as in many other cases, there could be a greater number of nomadic families who are using the area according to traditional hereditary rights, but do not have legal registration. As the sad experience with the recently built 11MW Taishir Hydro shows, many people may be forced to change their lifestyle dramatically and migrate to suburban ger districts of Ulaan Baatar or other towns, since without restoring their livestock economy they will have no means to survive in the countryside in the long term.
All in all, the situation is developing according to the worst scenario predicted by RwB and human rights groups: local people are coerced to give up their land, culture, and lifestyle with compensation that is likely insufficient to restore their livelihoods elsewhere. When they protest to protect their ancestral lands, the government criminalizes their act and threatens to bring in more police to suppress them. Anyone helping protesters to express their concerns is threatened by criminal investigation and exorbitant fines.
According to local sources 1 man and 3 women, who participated in October 4 events, have been officially accused of “organizing illegal protest” by police.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 23, 2022
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2022
- Event Description
On 2 August 2022, Mongolian woman human rights defender and Executive Director of Oyu Tolgoi Watch (OT Watch) Sukhgerel Dugersuren was informed by the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia (GIA) that she is being investigated for committing crimes under the Criminal Code Article 19.4 “Illegal cooperation with foreign intelligence agency, agent”. She has also simultaneously been targetted by a smear campaign on social media. There is serious concern for her safety and the risk of imminent arrest. Sukhgerel Dugersuren is a Mongolian woman human rights defender who works closely with communities impacted by large scale development projects. She has a long history of exposing human rights abuses and environmental degradation linked to large scale mining, energy and infrastructure projects. She is the Executive Director of Oyu Tolgoi Watch (OT Watch) – a Mongolian NGO monitoring the environmental and human rights impacts of Rio Tinto’s gold and copper mine Oyu Tolgoi – and Director of the Rivers without Boundaries Coalition in Mongolia which helps local communities to protect river ecosystems they depend on. OT Watch is part of the international Coalition for Human Rights in Development and Sukhgerel Dugersuren is a member of the advisory body for the Defenders in Development campaign. On 3 August 2022, during a government briefing, the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia, H. Nyambaatar, stated that the construction of the power plant had been suspended for two years. On 3 June 2022, an article written by Sukhgerel Dugersuren criticising the Erdeneburen hydroelectric power plant which is planned to be built on the Khovd River in Western Mongolia was published by The Third Pole.1 The article raised concerns about the project, including about the safety of the construction, potential environmental impact given its location in an ecologically sensitive area of Tsambagarav Uul National Park, and the potential displacement of 112 pastoralist households. The article also raised concerns about the lack of transparency and public participation in decision making regarding the project. Construction on the power plant – funded by China’s EximBank – was due to be carried out by state-owned Chinese engineering company PowerChina. During the government briefing, H. Nyambaatar also stated that a task force has been established to investigate cases where development projects are interrupted by civil society. These cases will be investigated as 'Sabotage' under the Criminal Code Article 19.6 and there will be a mechanism for reclaiming costs incurred due to the ‘lost opportunity’. The statement, which coincided with the visit of China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Ulan Baatar who was visiting to discuss the power plant and other similar projects, is a direct threat of reprisal and punishment against human rights defenders such as Sukhgerel Dugersuren who have been vocal advocates for the rights of persons impacted by such projects.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2022
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2022
- Event Description
Following 131 days of extrajudicial detention, on June 28, 2022, Mongolian citizen, human rights defender, writer, journalist and a member of the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists Mr. Munkhbayar Chuluundorj was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Primary Criminal Court of Bayanzurkh, Chingeltei and Sukhbaatar Districts in the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. The charge read out by the court, according to Chuluundor’s attorney, Ms. Baasan Geleg, was “10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign intelligence agency.”
When asked by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center which country’s intelligence agency Chuluundorj was allegedly collaborating with and which country he was accused of working against, Geleg said, “In order to cover up their treasonous acts they have been committing, the intelligence, court and the prosecutors of Mongolia are all shamelessly claiming that Chuluundorj had been collaborating with an Indian intelligence agency, namely the Research and Analysis Wing of the Embassy of India to Mongolia, against the People’s Republic of China.”
“What this is telling us is that the independent country of Mongolia has already become a province of the People’s Republic of China,” Geleg said in front of the courthouse after the trial, “because no article or clause of the constitution or any other laws of the independent country of Mongolia has ever stated to criminalize the citizens of Mongolia to defend the interest of China.”
“I am not just defending Chuluundorj. I am defending the sovereignty and independence of Mongolia. I am defending the entire Mongolian people from Chinese oppression,” Geleg said in an earlier statement sent to the SMHRIC.
“Today, we came to know that the Government of Mongolia is shamelessly and openly serving the interest of China!” said Chuluundorj’s other attorney, Mr. Batdorj Altan. “The court’s act of criminalizing its citizen without a single piece of evidence is an act of betrayal to the people and nation.”
Pointing to the court building behind him, attorney Altan continued, “This Sukhbaatar District Court is occupied by traitors, traitors to the people of Mongolia, who are sucking the blood of Mongolia, squandering the wealth of Mongolia, but betraying the nation of Mongolia and oppressing the people of Mongolia.”
Munkhbayar Chuluundorj's brother, Munk-Erdene Chuluundorj, told the SMHRIC that his brother’s health has suffered due to his imprisonment.
“My brother told us not to worry about his health. But what worries us is that he was hospitalized for two weeks recently. He did not tell us much about the prison conditions, but what we know is his meals consist mostly of animal organ stew, which certainly is considered an inferior quality food in Mongolia,” he added.
As a staunch advocate for freedom and human rights for the six million Southern Mongolians under the Chinese colonial regime, Chuluundorj organized and attended numerous conferences, meetings, protests, and other events in his home country of Mongolia and elsewhere, including the United States and Japan. Critical of the Mongolian Government’s unusually close ties with the Chinese regime in persecuting and deporting Southern Mongolian political refugees, he once said in a conference held in Japan by the Inner Mongolian People’s Party that “two governments in the world are most hostile towards Southern Mongolian exiles and [violate] their rights the most: the Government of China and the Government of Mongolia.”
Most recently, Chuluundorj had been active in demanding the resignation of Mr. Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of Mongolia, for kowtowing to the Chinese and failing to safeguard the sovereignty and independence of Mongolia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Mongolia: minority rights defender arrested
- Date added
- Jul 10, 2022
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2022
- Event Description
On February 17, 2022 at around 3:00 PM, Mr. Munkhbayar Chuluundorj, a citizen of the independent country of Mongolia who has long supported the Southern (Inner) Mongolian cause, was arrested by the General Intelligence Agency (GIA) of Mongolia in the capital city Ulaanbaatar.
According to a press conference held by the GIA on Friday, “Receiving instructions and accepting funds from a foreign intelligence organization, Mongolian citizen Munkhbayar Chuluundorj has engaged in activities of illegal cooperation [with the foreign intelligence organization]” and was “arrested in action.”
When asked by reporters which country’s intelligence organization Munkhbayar has worked for and what evidence was found to support this allegation, the GIA spokesperson declined to comment.
Munkhbayar’s brother Munkh-erdene told the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center that Mongolian authorities have already started prosecuting his brother behind closed doors. Family members and Munkhbayar’s attorney were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the GIA regarding the case.
“The GIA told me and my brother’s attorney that any disclosure of details of the case would be deemed a leakage of state secrets and would be punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment,” Munkh-erdene told the SMHRIC over the phone. “Even if you reach out to my brother’s attorney, I am sure she will tell you the same.”
Munkh-erdene said family members, relatives, and friends have been denied the right to visit Munkhbayar and the right to attend the ongoing closed-door trial.
Well-known writer, journalist, and human rights activist Munkhbayar has been one of the most vocal critics of the Mongolian Government’s cozy relationship with China and a strong supporter of national freedom for occupied parts of the historical Mongolian nation, including Southern Mongolia, Buriat, Kalmyk, and Hazara.
As a staunch advocate for freedom and human rights for the six million Southern Mongolians under the Chinese colonial regime, Munkhbayar organized and attended numerous conferences, meetings, protests, and other events in his home country Mongolia and elsewhere, including the United States and Japan. Critical of the Mongolian Government’s close cooperation with the Chinese regime in persecuting and deporting Southern Mongolian political refugees, Munkhbayar once said in a conference held in Japan by the Inner Mongolian People’s Party that “two governments in the world are most hostile towards Southern Mongolian exiles and violating their rights the most: the Government of China and the Government of Mongolia.”
Most recently, Munkhbayar had been active in demanding the resignation of Mr. Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of Mongolia, for his kowtowing to the Chinese and failure to safeguard the sovereignty and independence of Mongolia.
In a Facebook post, Munkhbayar highlighted two main reasons, among others, why Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene has to resign:
“During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene said in his meeting with Chairman Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China that ‘Mongolia is ready to board China’s express train of prosperity;’ ‘Mongolia is ready to adjust itself to China’s 14th Five Year Plan;’ ‘China is the best neighbor, more valuable than gold;’ ‘[Mongolia] is ready to work with the Chinese Communist Party to learn its way of governing the country;’ ‘making these Mongolia’s guiding principle for foreign policy.’ These statements are posing an existential threat to the independence and national security of Mongolia, implying the annexation of Mongolia to China.
“Recently, a group of Chinese citizens gathered at Sukhbaatar Square in our capital Ulaanbaatar with a long banner reading ‘The Mongolian China Peaceful Reunification Promotion Association.’ Not only did the Government of Mongolia fail to respond to China’s this type of flagrant challenge to our national sovereignty but also Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene himself expressed a similar position to Beijing.”
The picture of this particular gathering has gone viral via social media among Mongolians around the world, who are calling it a direct challenge from the Chinese to the independence of Mongolia. Although the English translation of the so-called association reads “The Mongolian China Peaceful Unification Promotion Association Wishes the Beijing Winter Olympics a Complete Success,” the Chinese letters “蒙古国中国和平统一促进会预祝北京冬奥会圆满成功” can accurately be translated as “Mongolia China Peaceful Reunification Association Wishes the Beijing Winter Olympics a Complete Success.”
In another Facebook post, Munkhbayar published his research findings revealing that the “蒙古国中国和平统一促进会” is an overseas Chinese GONGO (government operated NGO) promoting China’s expansionist agenda in neighboring countries, including Taiwan and Mongolia.
“Therefore, we are demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene. If he remains in power, our nation’s independence will be lost and all citizens of Mongolia will become slaves of China. We are urging our fellow citizens of Mongolia to join us for the independence and wellbeing of our nation and our people,” Munkhbayar stated in his Facebook post.
Protests of various forms are being organized via social media and in person, demanding the immediate release of Munkhbayar. On February 18, a group of activists gathered before the GIA headquarters and livestreamed their protest.
“No question, Munkhbayar’s arrest was instructed by Beijing and executed by our government,” a protester said on the livestream. “This is a case trumped-up by the authorities to silence those who stand up for the sovereignty of our nation and the freedom of our brothers and sisters in Southern Mongolia.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 10, 2022
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2019
- Event Description
Ms Mungunkhun is an environmental and community-based WHRD who lives in TsagaanOvoo District, located in Mongolia’s easternmost Province of Dornod. She is member to a community of herders living in proximity to a mining site owned by Steppe Gold, a publicly-listed Mongolian mining company active in the exploration and extraction of precious metals. Ms Mungunkhun, together with around ten herders and few members of the Tsagaan-Ovoo community, have steadily opposed the mining operations in the area where they and their livestock live, as they deem that such activities would have negative impacts on their livelihoods and the environment.
On 21 August 2018, A group of herders living in Tsagaan-Ovoo District, including Ms Mungunkhun, was holding a protest against Steppe Gold company’s decision to fence an area of pasture land where they used to go with their livestock. Around ten security personnel from a security company hired by Steppe Gold company handcuffed and put to the ground Mr Tuvshinjargal, a herder and HRD who was taking part in the protest, while one security personnel sat on his head. Mr Tuvshinjargal was then beaten up by several other people, which caused his shoulder being fractured.4 When he screamed for help, one of the herders who was joining the protest managed to help him get into a car. The car was then stopped by the security personnel, who hit the window and the body of the car with a blunt object. Ultimately, the car managed to run away and secure Mr Tuvshinjargal in the local police station. After the incident, Mr Tuvshinjargal claimed that he received an anonymous call threatening him to face death if he did not stop what he is doing. While the attack was happening towards Mr Tuvshinjargal, Ms Mungunkhun recorded the incident with her mobile phone. As she was recording, she was grabbed by three security personnel and her mobile phone was snatched from her hand. She managed to retrieve her phone from the hand of the security person and to hide it under her brassiere, then she ran away. However, she was chased by the security personnel, who manhandled her, and then forcefully took away Ms Mungunkhun’s mobile phone from inside her brassiere and started to beat her. Then she was allegedly brought to the security post of Steppe Gold mining company, where Ms Mungunkhun estimated to have been detained for around five hours as a form of “punishment”. During her detention, she was allegedly sexually harassed by the security personnel in the pretext of “locating her mobile phone”, although they already had it in their possession. She was feeling scared and afraid to lose her life while being surrounded by muscular security personnel, and was insecure about calling out for help. Later when she was released, her mobile phone was eventually returned to her, but the video of the beating was deleted by the security personnel.
When this incident happened, Ms Mungunkhun had recently undergone an appendicitis surgery. The physical attack towards her damaged the stitches, and as a result, after the incident she needed to go back hospital to do re-stitching. It is worth to mention that the local doctor refused to issue a medical certificates to the WHRD and the other victims of the attacks for the injures they suffered. The doctor also refused to issue a medical certificate for Ms Mungunkhun’s re-stitching.
On 22 October 2019, Ms Mungunkhun was invited to the press conference held in Ulaanbaatar to launch the report 'Our Land’, released by FORUM-ASIA and CHRD, exposing the results of the fact-finding mission conducted month before, and including the incident affecting Ms Mungunkhun. During the event, the WHRD reported that a person named Unuruu from Steppe Gold just called her and sent her phone text messages saying that “if you want to stand against the mining, protest against it, you should have a very brave heart and have someone behind you to get protection. Otherwise it seems it’s easy to lose your life”. The WHRD added also that she has faced threats and humiliation from Steppe Gold for months.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jan 28, 2021
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Jan 21, 2014
- Event Description
ULAN BATOR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Tsetsegee Munkhbayar, a prominent environmental activist in Mongolia, was sentenced to 21 and a half years' in jail for using firearms against government officials and threatening government and mining companies. Munkhbayar is a well-known environmental activist and former herder who won the prestigious international environmental Goldman Prize award in 2007. After two days of a court trial that continued late into Tuesday night, Munkhbayar and four other members of the "Fire Nation" environmental movement were given various jail terms ranging from two to over 21 years. Munkhbayar and seven fellow activists were arrested in possession of weapons outside the Mongolian government house in September last year, Xinhua news agency reported. The activist said he had intended to warn the authorities against the government's planned revision of the law that bans mining activity along river basins and forest areas. Police said Munkhbayar and other activists had blackmailed mining companies and attempted to use firearms and explosives against the authorities. Munkhbayar said at the closing of the trial that he did not commit a crime to deserve his sentence. "I have simply fulfilled my duty as a citizen to protect my motherland," he said. Tserenkhand, a coordinator of the Confederation of Mongolian River Movements, an umbrella environmental organisation of which Munkhbayar was part of, said the group will appeal against the court's sentence. Source: BERNAMA
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to fair trial
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Nov 5, 2015
- Event Description
On November 5, 2015, 27-year-old researcher, Lkhagvasumberel Tumursukh, known to most as "Sumbee," left his home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia a day prior to a trip planned to the South Gobi, to the Tost-Tosonbomba mountain range where he kept watch over about 20 snow leopards he was researching for the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation and its partner, the Snow Leopard Trust. Having co-authored a number of research publications as a student at National University of Mongolia and with a passion to learn conservation best practices from top schools in the U.S. and U.K., by many accounts Sumbee had a brilliant future ahead of him. But he never made it to the Gobi. Concerned, his colleagues and friends rallied to find him. "I found out he was missing and was in constant contact with people on the ground trying to locate him," Unudelgerekh Batkhuu, board member of the Mongol Ecology Center, told The Diplomat. On November 11, Sumbee's body was found floating in Lake Hovsgol in northern Mongolia, thousands of kilometers away from the Gobi. His death was ruled a drowning, according to the autopsy, while the police ruled it a suicide. "It was devastating," Batkhuu said. Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month. "He taught kids how to interact with animals. He was more of a visionary than any of us. He would not go and kill himself as the police say." A History of Threats On November 17, the Snow Leopard Trust published a cautious yet mournful press release that one of their own had passed away. Shortly after this, more than 40 international researchers, including the Snow Leopard Trust, submitted a formal letter to members of parliament and certain government ministers and published it online, requesting a formal inquiry into a death they deemed suspicious and possibly a murder. "Our concern is that the powers that be will sweep the case under the rug and not do a proper investigation," explained Bob McIntosh from the U.S., also a board member of the Mongol Ecology Center. Along with two prominent researchers, Clyde Goulden and Olaf Jensen, McIntosh had initiated the letter and organized the signatures. According to colleagues, friends and family, Sumbee had been attacked by knife point in central Ulaanbaatar in May 2014, in an incident initially thought to have been a robbery gone wrong. He healed from his wounds and by July 2014, had travelled to Seattle, Washington in the U.S. to further his studies on snow leopards, supported by a scholarship. His sister Munkh-Orgil Tumursukh, remembers the first attack well. She noticed something different about her brother. As part of a family of ardent conservationists, she is studying a degree in eco-tourism in the U.S. and met her older brother in Seattle for two days. Usually wearing t-shirts without collars, this time he wore his shirt collar up. "I said "why do you wear the collar of your shirt like this, brother? Bad boys do this and you are not a bad boy.' I reached for his collar and pulled it down and then saw this mark. This scar. He also had one on his arm." Becoming distraught at the sight of the scar, she pleaded with him to tell her what happened. "Someone tried to kill me," he told her. But then he became cheerful. "My sister, don't worry. I am alive now and here with you." Later that summer in September and back in Mongolia, Sumbee stayed at Ikh Nart Camp with several other biologist and conservationists. "During this trip, I got to know Sumbee as he was there," said Colleen McCulloch, an ecologist in mammal conservation. "One night we were sitting around talking with five or six other biologists. One or two had asked him about[his attack]. I remember Sumbee saying "I had one or two bad guys who were causing problems.'" His second attack came in the winter that year, according to fellow conservationists. Men in a black car abducted him in Ulaanbaatar. He was taken outside the city and threatened with death if he didn't stay away from the Gobi. The threats included his three siblings, which may be why Sumbee tried to protect those close to him from learning too much information. He did, however, report it to the police, who apparently did not take him seriously as he could not identify his attackers. The third attack came in April 2015 in the South Gobi. As Sumbee was driving by motorcycle over a mountain pass two men on bikes came up alongside him and struck him hard. He clung to his bike and kept driving, but it soon became apparent to him that he was hurt. He sought help from friends and was taken to a hospital by helicopter. His parents, Naraa and Tumursukh, explain the attack was severe. "One wound below the chest was 4.5 cm deep, right belly 2 cm, and left belly 3.5 cm deep. Because police didn't recover any evidence or prints they assumed he inflicted those wounds to himself. This is how police built their theories[that he was suicidal]," they explained through a translator. B. Unudelgerekh, who described her relationship with Sumbee as that of a big sister, remembers this time period as well. "I spoke to Sumbee about it. When he was stabbed, he was encouraged to take a break from the Gobi but he was so concerned about protecting the animals. He used to say to me: "Don't worry...'" Despite the risks, Sumbee was back to work by September or October 2015, working with the Snow Leopard Trust. According to family, friends and colleagues, his passion for his work kept him coming back, despite the dangers and their concerns. "When his dad[Tumursukh] talked about ibex and argali, he was the happiest ever. And Sumbee was the same with snow leopards," said Unudelgerekh. Recalled Clyde Goulden, one of the organizers of the letter to parliament, "I worked a lot with Tumursukh and Naraa in conservation efforts[at Lake Hovsgol]. He never hesitated to stop illegal fishing or enforce the strictly protected areas, for example Russians poaching in the area. He could be aggressive in his work but he was always trying to do the right thing. If[Sumbee] was anything like his father in his conservation work, I can understand why he might put people off who weren't interested in conservation." His father believes that it is possible the police thought Sumbee was "not important" to his family because his work in the Gobi was far from the family home in northern Lake Hovsgol. The Tost-Tosonbomba mountain range is located near China's border in the Gurvantes soum (district) and supports a community of 233 herder families with approximately 40,000 goats, sheep, camels and horses, according to a 2008 report. Herders used to shoot snow leopards that attacked their livestock, but steep penalties as well as work within the local community on preservation have made this less common. The penalties it attracts also appear to have made poaching less of a problem as well. Mining however, remains a pressing threat and one that is common to the local community as well. Badral Yondon, Chair of Ulaanbaatar Tourism Association, told The Diplomat, "I met many herders who support[Sumbee] and his work and actually came together to fight off mining companies." His parents don't believe that the Gobi herder community wished harm on Sumbee. "Sumbee had a personality and life was not of the type people would want to kill. He was a good kid, helpful, well mannered, and passionate about his work." But they have suspicions of powerful interests behind local mining permits. According to local media, MP B. Choijilsuren owns a significant percentage of the permits in the area. In contrast, MP Bat-Erdene, deemed a supportive presence to the community, owns mining permits adjacent to the area. "We think that his death was caused by the conflict between snow leopard habitat he was protecting around Mt. Tost-Tosonbomba and mining interests.[We think] this was a premeditated murder by mining and ninja[miners]," said Sumbee's parents. With the masks and unmarked car abduction, no one knows for sure who was behind the threats to Sumbee. "It's a multi-layered onion of mining permits, traditional local economic activities, and government, local and international interests here," McIntosh explains. Though the exact number of mining licenses cited varies according to reports, he believes there are "about 19 ___ 21." Sumbee's final attack seemed to catch everyone by surprise. Though friends and colleagues encouraged him to take a step back to let things cool down, he could not be dissuaded. "I knew my brother had problems[with threats], even though my family said not to worry," his sister Munkh-Orgil tearfully explained by Skype. "But I never thought these people would murder him." Public Attention By early January, Sumbee's father, a well-known and respected ranger and biologist in his own right working in Hovsgol, was displeased with the lack of progress on the case. He worked to debunk the suicide theory through evidence he had gathered in Ulaanbaatar. Sumbee, a diligent researcher who co-authored at least 10 publications on his work with snow leopards and ibex, was apparently just as thorough in recording the threats he received on his smartphone. "We found a phone recording of Sumbee chasing people away regarding the mining licenses," Badral said. "Tumursukh is smart and he knows the legal system. He has recordings and gave some to the authorities." Tumursukh had also found a phone recording made after Sumbee's abduction and before his death, left in his son's car between the seats. He passed a portion to a local journalist, who aired it in a televised interview. In one segment of the recording Sumbee, says: "Do you think I'm going to beg you to please spare my life? No, I will never do that. I'll never beg you to spare my life." The public's response was swift and generated a great deal of controversy. Local media, through extensive televised segments, presented not only the phone recording released by Tumursukh, but emails between Sumbee and his local employer, the Snow Leopard Conservation Fund, where he described the attacks, which were translated by friends into English on a blog. The local employer had contacted the police, but they had dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence. Meanwhile, international conservationists continued worked on their end to bring support to the case. The letter gained the immediate support of Member of Parliament Ts. Oyungerel. "We[also] were concerned that other international NGOs and researchers would be reluctant to work in Mongolia if Sumbee's death was not properly investigated," said McIntosh. The Tost-Tosonbomba snow leopard range has hosted research from 18 different institutions and six different countries, according to a report. Rebecca Watters, executive director of The Wolverine Foundation, and director of The Mongolian Wolverine Project, who also signed her name to the letter, agrees. "Stuff like that doesn't happen in Mongolia. When I was working in Cambodia, I had armed guards to protect me because we[the conservation community] had rangers killed in Cambodia." "Mongolia, by contrast, has rule of law and doesn't have these situations happen." After Tumursukh's media campaign, MP L. Erdenechimeg also began publicly supporting the investigation. The Minister of Justice D. Dorligjav, as the campaign's supporters had hoped, became involved. He criticized the suicide ruling as a mark of police incompetence, saying important evidence had been lost in investigating the case as a homicide. While the support is welcomed by Sumbee's parents, they have expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in the police investigation. At press time, they were not hopeful the killers would be caught. When asked what justice would look like to them, they said "We do not really know what can be done." Although they previously had the support of a lawyer working pro-bono, Sumbee's parents now say they will probably need to hire a lawyer. Sumbee's sister Munkh-Orgil thinks the police have been "working inside the box." "They need to "break the box,' " she explained. One thing is clear. Most of the numerous sources The Diplomat spoke with described Sumbee as someone who would not back down from a fight to protect the snow leopards entrusted in his care. "Perhaps if he had looked the other way or not challenged them it would have been a different outcome. But Sumbee wasn't the kind of guy who could watch other people causing damage and not try to stop it. He cared deeply about protecting the environment," said McCulloch. It is no surprise that those close to Sumbee want him to have the same kind of unrelenting representation, and his legacy is being staunchly promoted by his tenacious father Tumursukh. In a recent speech, Tumursukh told media. "I will uncover the murderers who[killed] my son, I will not stop until I find the truth behind my son's death, till my last breath."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2011
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders today voiced "great concern" about the imprisonment for the past two months of Dolgor Chuluunbaatar, editor of the daily Ulaanbaatar Times, and said it feared he had been "tortured and forced to sign confessions." It called on the government to prove otherwise. He was arrested in the capital, Ulaanbataar, on 24 March and accused by the Sukhbaatar district court of illegally privatising the paper. Reporters Without Borders is also concerned about the arrest on 27 April of another journalist, who was accused of libelling a minister. The worldwide press freedom organisation said it was "very worried" about the editor's treatment in prison, since the case was of interest to the government. It said it was quite unlikely that the privatisation of the paper and a state printing works had been done entirely by one person. It urged the government to clarify the matter and allow civil society representatives to visit the prison to check on Chuluunbaatar's health and whether he had been beaten. He was accused by the court on 7 April of violating in 2008 article 150.3 of the criminal law about private and government property and faces a 15-year prison sentence if convicted. The paper's offices are in a former printing works that belonged to the Ulaabataar city government. He denies the charges. His lawyers have applied nine times to various legal authorities for his release on bail but none have replied. Chuluunbaatar, a respected TV journalist and former editor of Mongoliin Medee (Mongolian News) and the Daily Independent, is currently vice-president of the Asia Journalist Association and secretary-general of the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists. Reporters Without Borders is also concerned about the arrest on 27 April of two journalists, Gantumut Uyanga and her husband Baviya Baatarkhuyag, after they criticised nature, environment and tourism minister Luimed Gansukh in the daily Udriin Sonin for moving with his family into a million-dollar house soon after the government signed an agreement with a Canadian firm, Ivanohe Mines, to mine copper and gold at Oyu Tolgoi. Uyanga told the news website News.mn that she and her husband were seized by four police and shoved into a van as they were leaving their house with a friend. "I was forced to kneel down and they smashed my mobile phone," she said. Both journalists were freed a few hours later. The Ulaanbaatar court upheld on 5 May the dismissal by the Sukhbaatar court on 24 March of a libel suit brought by the minister against Uyanga, who also heads a civil society organisation. She said she would sue police for illegally arresting her. Mr. Dolgor Chuluunbaatar was released on bail on 28 July 2011.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2011
- Event Description
Publicist and journalist A. Baatarkhuyag Baatarkhuyag has been under investigation for criminal defamation since 8 July 2010, following a complaint by Minister of Nature, Environment and Tourism L. Gansukh. The minister complained that he had been defamed by the following sentences: "Many suffocate from their embezzling" and "Gansukh from Democratic party and Otgonbayar from Revolutionary Party become neighbors in their houses costing million dollars". These statements were contained in an article by Baatarkhuyag entitled "From solidarity to demoralizing", which was published in the 1 March 2010 edition of the daily newspaper "Udriin Sonin". In his complaint, the minister argued that Baatarkhuyag should be severely punished for defaming him and accusing him of corruption in a nationwide publication. The first hearing in the case will be held on 11 February 2011. GI notes that the minister's action is in breach of the Media Freedom Law, Article 3, which bans any kind of censorship and hindering of journalists' media work carried out in compliance with the law. Furthermore, according to Article 139 of the Mongolian Criminal Law, any breach of the Media Freedom Law may be considered a crime. GI urges the Mongolian authorities to repeal the criminal defamation legislation and calls on politicians and public officials to be more tolerant and open to criticism. In Mongolia, defamation charges brought against journalists in connection with their articles violate freedom of expression, speech, opinion and the press, as guaranteed by Article 16 of the Constitution, Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Mongolia ratified in 1974. GI is concerned about the increase in the number of such actions by politicians and public officials using criminal defamation provisions to strangle the voice of the free media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Mongolia
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2010
- Event Description
On 27 April 2010, journalist Kh. Namuun-Uyanga, of the "Ogloonii Sonin" (Morning News) daily, received a threatening phone cal. He was urged to stop reporting on alleged embezzlement by Lieutenant Colonel M. Bayarmagnai, deputy chief of the Patrol and Special Defense Department. The threat was madeby Bayarmagnai's lawyer. The journalist heads the paper's Investigative Department. She published an article in the paper's 11 September 2008 edition, issue #175, entitled, "Police Colonel Embezzles MNT 20 million". The article was based on information provided by Lieutenant Colonel Ts. Batbold, head of the Investigation Department of the State General Prosecutor's Office. Batbold explained that his department was investigating a swindling case involving Bayarmagnai. At the time, a number of daily newspapers, including "Zuunii Medee" (Century News), "Ardchilal" (Democracy) and "Ardyn Erkh" (People's Right), also published articles on the investigation. But Bayarmagnai named only "Ogloonii Sonin" in his lawsuit, as it was the first paper to report on the alleged embezzlement. The lieutenant colonel accused the paper of defaming him and asked for 10 million MNT (over US$7,000) from the journalist to "redeem his reputation". The journalist earns about US$200 a month. After reviewing the case on 19 October 2009, the Bayanzurkh District Court found the paper guilty of slander and defamation. "Ogloonii Sonin" was ordered to pay 2 million MNT in damages to the plaintiff and publish a retraction. The paper subsequently filed an appeal with the Capital City Court. The first instance court's ruling was upheld on 18 December 2009, when the newspaper was once again found guilty of defamation. However, the Capital City Court reduced the amount payable to the plaintiff from two million to one million MNT. Unhappy with the decision, Namuun-Uyanga appealed to the Supreme Court. While her appeal was pending, a criminal case involving Bayarmagnai was re-opened. The journalist then wrote to the Supreme Court asking that review of her appeal be postponed until the case was finalized by the State General Prosecutor's Office. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the court of appeal decision. Based on a request by Namuun-Uyanga, G. Davaakhuu, an attorney for Globe International, submitted a complaint to Supreme Court General Judge S. Batdelger in accordance with Article 1761 on the review of civil cases, opposing the decisions of the court of first instance, the court of appeal and the supervising court, all three of which found "Ogloonii Sonin" guilty of slander and defamation. Namuun-Uyanga has received a number of calls from Bayarmagnai, and most recently, from his lawyer on 27 April 2010. The lieutenant colonel has said he will withdraw his complaint if the journalist agrees to pay him one million MNT. Otherwise, he threatened to use all his powers and connections against her and the paper
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
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