A television station in Mongolia has been charged with criminal defamation after the station aired a documentary alleging corruption among high-ranking public officials.

According to the Mongolian press freedom organisation Globe International, channel TV9, in a documentary titled “Detective-2”, presented apparent evidence of corruption concerning a police investigation into the privatisation of a former government-owned building.  The property in question housed the state printing press as well as the offices of the Ulaanbataar Times, a formerly state-run daily newspaper.

The paper was privatised in 2008 by the Capital City Privatisation Commission, a government body tasked with privatising state-owned industries in Ulaanbaatar, according to an earlier report by Globe International.  The Ulaanbaatar Times had by that time accumulated millions of Mongolian tögrög (MNT) in debt.  [1 EUR = 1,800 MNT.]  The building in question had also apparently suffered significant structural damage, the organisation said.

At the time of the privatisation, Chuluunbaatar Dolgor, who would shortly become the paper’s editor-in-chief, served as head of the privatisation management team.  In March 2011 authorities arrested Chuluunbaatar and charged with him “illegal privatisation and serious damage of public property.”  As previously reported by the International Press Institute (IPI), he was later released on bail in July after a campaign led by Globe International and supported by the Asia Journalists’ Association, Reporters without Borders, and IFEX.

On 22 Dec. 2011, P. Otgonjargal, the police commissioner who had been investigating the privatisation of the Ulaanbaatar Times, filed a criminal-defamation claim against TV9 in response to the documentary’s allegations.

H. Naranjargal, president of Globe International, told IPI she believes the current charges are politically motivated.  Mongolian media reported earlier that the privatisation of the Ulaanbaatar Times had been led by the country’s then-president Enkhbayar Nambar, who lost a campaign for re-election in 2009 but remains involved with the opposition.  Naranjargal said that TV9 is aligned with Nambar and that the former leader has invested in the station, but added: “Journalists must not be victims of the political game.”

According to Globe International, police have been pressuring TV9’s creative team to reveal their sources for the corruption allegations and have threatened the team’s members with detention.

O. Baasankhuu, a defence lawyer working on the case, has denounced the police’s interrogation techniques as a violation of Mongolian law.  He added that the case “shows how the role of the press for the public interest is undermined” and said the ability of the press “to provide accurate and reliable information may be adversely affected.”

Naranjargal told IPI that the information TV9 used for the documentary came from publicly available sources and was simply an analysis of what other newspapers and websites had already published.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony said: “Regardless of the political implications, journalists have a right to report on matters of public interest.  No journalist or media outlet should be subject to criminal defamation charges for investigating allegations about the police or any other government officials.  We urge Mongolian authorities to end their interrogation of TV9 employees and to drop all charges against the station.”