This started as an ordinary match evening for young employees of an increased media company turned into a shocking police descent – triggering a national outcry for press freedom in Mongolia.
During the night of March 17, eight employees of Noorog Creative Studio, a Digital media outlet Known for his daring investigation work, was suddenly detained by the Cybercrime Department. Journalists, aged 20 to 27, were taken Cust on sight under article 19.9.1 of the law on criminal law to allegedly “undermine national unity” – an accusation which has never led to a criminal act since the judgment of the law in 2015. The sanction is five to 12 years of imprisonment.
The employees were interviewed for almost nine hours during the night, from 9:50 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., some would have been questioned without legal representation. Their The devices were confiscated During his arrest, and it is not clear if they had the right to communicate with the legal advisor. The police also made a descent into the office of Noorog, entering computers and hard drives.
According to local media reports, the accusations arise from accusations of “dissemination of false information” on the Facebook page of the release. Like the UB Post Summary“This survey would have been launched on the basis of a complaint subject via a false address in a discussion message, which claimed that Noorog’s content had led individuals to consider suicide.”
In its own right, the The state prosecutor’s office said that he had rejected a proposal to immediately arrest the journalists from Noorog, because “the legal reasons for detention had not been established”.
The time of the operation has raised serious concerns, as it occurs only a few weeks after the point of sale has announced its Upcoming documentary“18 days”. The film, which takes place in June, follows six citizens through the parliamentary electoral campaign of Mongolia in Mongolia, aimed at exposing the strategies and tactics used to influence voters.
Ulamsaikhan Otgon, the founder of Noorog, told Ikon a Mongolian mediathat The documentary “followed ordinary citizens who were not party members. Ulamsaikhan said he was not sure whether the documentary could be published, because the assembly had not yet finished and that 14 teraoctes of sequences were on the hard drives seized by the Cybercrime Department.
Mongolia’s press freedom has been a sharp decline recently, ranking 109th out of 180 countries in the RSF World Freedom Index – A spectacular fall of 36 places since 2020. Although the influence of the state on the media is widely recognized, the rise of independent outlets like Noorog gave a younger audience an alternative and critical voice.
After the public’s indignation, the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs made a statement refusing any link between arrests and press freedom. Meanwhile, the initial accusation against detainees – would have “undermined national unity” – was considerably offset. The authorities now claim that the case implies a “playing” fraud program worth nearly 2.6 million dollars. This sudden change in the official account only eaten public skepticism, criticism arguing that the government is trying to retrospectively justify the raid and the unprecedented detentions.
With an investigation journalism in Mongolia faced with increasing pressure and without robust legal protection, this repression signals an increasingly hostile environment for independent media. Without a significant reform, the risks of Mongolia slide further in the global classification of press freedom – and more deeply in censorship and control.