(Globe International/IFEX) – On 27 October 2006, journalists G. Erdenebat and B. Khajidmaa and photographer Ya. Aranjinbaatar of the daily “Udriin sonin”, as well as photojournalist Sh. Gerelsaikhan of “Ardiin erkh”, were assaulted by police officers and detained for approximately two hours while covering a civil society demonstration. During the mass arrest, police officers assaulted […]
(Globe International/IFEX) – On 27 October 2006, journalists G. Erdenebat and B. Khajidmaa and photographer Ya. Aranjinbaatar of the daily “Udriin sonin”, as well as photojournalist Sh. Gerelsaikhan of “Ardiin erkh”, were assaulted by police officers and detained for approximately two hours while covering a civil society demonstration.
During the mass arrest, police officers assaulted the journalists, destroyed one of their cameras, confiscated their documents, and gave them no opportunity to explain their purpose.
Erdenebat said, “No policeman asked us to show our documents; instead, they disregarded them and threw them away when we offered them. Ms. B. Khajidmaa, a female journalist, was beaten by policemen with batons, and her face and body were severely injured. A camera was destroyed while the policemen were trying to seize it. The police packed us into their car and brought us to the station.”
Mr. Davaakhuu, head of the public relations office of the General Police Department, said: “We dispersed the demonstration by legal means and without the use of force. Yes, we detained the journalists, but how are we to differentiate journalists from demonstrators?”
In response to this incident, “Udriin sonin” organized a press conference demanding that the authorities stop violating the rights of journalists and urged journalists to join in solidarity to express opposition to the violation of their rights.
The Mongolian Journalists Confederation also issued a media release sharply condemning the incident as a violation of journalists’ right to report on events and thus also a violation of the public’s right to information.
On 26 October, civil society representatives demanding the release of Mrs. G. Baasan, head of the Free Elder’s Union, set up a tent in a central street of Ulaanbaatar and shut down traffic at 1:00 p.m. (local time). Law enforcement officials repeatedly demanded that the demonstrators disperse but they refused, so policemen dispersed them with force that night.
Baasan was detained on 24 October by members of the Chingiltei district police department, allegedly for assaulting the police.
Globe International has issued a media release on this incident and sent a notification letter to Mr. M. Ganbold and Colonel B. Galdaa, chief of the Investigation Bureau of the Prosecutor’s Office, informing them that police personnel were violating the rights of journalists to report on the event.
