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Events
Concern in Mongolia After Police Raid on Independent News Outlet www.thediplomat.com
Eight employees for Noorog Creative Studio were detained, allegedly without due process, on murky and shifting charges.
What started as an ordinary game night for young employees of a rising media company turned into a shocking police raid – sparking a nationwide outcry for press freedom in Mongolia.
On the night of March 17, eight employees of Noorog Creative Studio, a digital media outlet known for its bold investigative work, were abruptly detained by the Cyber Crime Department. The journalists, aged 20–27, were taken into custody under Article 19.9.1 of the Criminal Law Act for allegedly “undermining national unity” – a charge that has never before led to a criminal indictment since the law’s enactment in 2015. The penalty is five to 12 years imprisonment.
The employees were interrogated for nearly nine hours overnight, from 9:50 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., with some reportedly questioned without legal representation. Their devices were confiscated upon arrest, and it remains unclear whether they were given the right to communicate with legal counsel. The police also raided Noorog’s office, seizing computers and hard drives.
According to local media reports, the charges stem from accusations of “spreading false information” on the outlet’s Facebook page. As the UB Post summarized, “This investigation was reportedly initiated based on a complaint submitted via a fake address in a chat message, which claimed that Noorog’s content had caused individuals to consider suicide.”
Concerningly, the State Prosecutor’s Office said that it had rejected a proposal to arrest the Noorog journalists immediately, because “the legal grounds for detention had not been established.”
The timing of the operation has raised serious concerns, as it comes just weeks after the outlet announced its upcoming documentary, “18 Days.” The film, set for release in June, follows six citizens through Mongolia’s 2024 parliamentary election campaign, aiming to expose the strategies and tactics used to sway voters.
By Uranbileg Tumurkhuyag
Published Date:2025-03-21
