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Alert

Journalist imprisoned for defamation

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist A. Erdenetuya has been sentenced to three months and one day in prison for defamation and fined 900,000 Mongol tugriks (approx. US$809; 670 euros). On 27 April 2004, the Bayanzurkh District Court convicted Erdenetuya under Article 111/2 of the Mongolian Criminal Code and sent her to Gants Khudag prison in a suburb of the capital, Ulan-Bator. The 22 year-old reporter writes for the tabloid newspaper "Mongolyn Neg Odor" ("A Day in Mongolia).

While refraining from comment on the substance of the offending article, RSF has condemned the prison sentence and called for Erdenetuya's release on bail. The organisation has also urged Justice Minister Tsendiin Nyamdorj to reform defamation laws by abolishing prison sentences. The United Nations special rapporteur on free expression has repeatedly expressed his opposition to prison terms for press offences, a punishment he considers disproportionate to the harm done to the victim.

RSF also reminded the tabloid press of the need to respect a professional code of ethics.

In her article, Erdenetuya alleged that elected member of parliament and former police chief D. Moron was the illegitimate father of a young woman who had committed a murder. Moron responded to the allegations by filing defamation charges, saying his reputation had been tarnished. Erdenetuya has filed an appeal.

She was escorted to prison after the hearing by about 30 police officers, who prevented the press from interviewing or photographing her. About 100 journalists then staged demonstrations in front of the court, protesting the attack on press freedom. Mongolian journalists' associations also expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict.

This is not the first time a journalist has been jailed for defamation since Mongolia's return to democracy. In July 2002, the editor-in-chief of the daily "Ug", a tabloid run by the Mongolian Democratic Party, was sentenced to six months in prison after refusing to reveal her sources in connection with an article wrongly accusing a young woman of spreading the AIDS virus (see IFEX alert of 2 August 2002).