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Alert

Journalist investigated for criminal defamation and libel

(Globe International/IFEX) - G. Dashrentsen, political commentator for the national newspaper "Udriin Sonin" ("Daily News") has been under investigation for criminal defamation and libel by the Mongolian Police Enquiry Department since 28 January 2006, following a complaint made by Buddhist Lama Purevbat.

Lama Purevbat complained that he had been shamed by being called a "yaschin" in an article authored by Dashrentsen, entitled "N. Enkhbayar's Black Spot Moves Ahead in Mongolia" and printed in the weekly "Deedsiin Hureelen" at the end of October 2005.

The journalist and the lama dispute the meaning of the offending term ("yaschin"). On 13 March, the Linguistic Institute of the Mongolian Academy of Science, after a request from the Police Enquiry Department, issued a translation of the word, based on a Mongolian academic dictionary by noted writer O. Tsevel. "Yaschin" is composed of two parts: "yas", which means "bone", and "chin", a suffix that converts a noun into a profession. The translation of "yaschin", then, is "a professional who takes care of bones", or "bone dealer."

Dashrentsen claims that the criticism in the article was aimed only at current Mongolian President N. Enkhbayar for giving an award to a lama who destroyed the bones of hundreds of lamas, and not at Purevbat.

In May 2003, at Hambiin Ovoo, near Ulaanbaatar, the bones of over 600 lamas were uncovered and, in a project initiated by Lama Purevbat, a memorial stupa was to be built, destroying these bones. The bones were considered evidence of mass killings committed during the repression period of the 1930s.

On 16 November 2005, Purevbat lodged his complaint with the Bayanzurkh District Court of Ulaanbaatar City, but Dashrentsen refused to attend the hearing, saying that he had reason to distrust the judges.

Dashrentsen has previously been charged with libel, against senior custom official Sh. Adishaajav. On 28 September 2005, he was ordered to pay Tg300,000 (approx. US$260) to Adishaajav by the Bayanzurkh District Court of Ulaanbaatar City. He was also required to publish a correction in the newspaper. Adishaajav was later arrested, after investigations by the State Investigation Department, and accused of corruption. The Department continues to investigate corruption in the customs department.

Globe International, deeply concerned about the present investigation of Dashrentsen, requested a meeting with Police Captain D. Azjargal, who is in charge of the investigation, and with Mrs. Otgonchimeg, of the Ulaanbaatar prosecutor's office, who is in charge of the legal case. Both refused to give any information.

Globe International asserts that journalists should not be accused under the criminal code for what they publish, and demands that legal officials respect press freedom and the right to free expression.